Tampa Bay Lightning beats Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, to get to next round

TAMPA, Fla. â€”  Braydon Coburn broke a scoreless tie early in the third period and Ben Bishop made 31 saves to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, on Wednesday night in Game 7 of a first-round series.

Ryan Callahan set up Coburn’s third goal in 79 career postseason games with a pass through the slot to the top of the right circle, where the Tampa Bay defenseman sent a shot over goalie Petr Mrazek’s right shoulder.

Anton Stralman added an empty-net goal with 1 minute 18 seconds remaining, ensuring the Lightning would win its first Game 7 at home since it beat Calgary in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.

Tampa Bay, which rallied from a 3-2 series deficit, advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Montreal. The Canadiens host Game 1 on Friday night.

The Red Wings outshot the Lightning 31-17, but Bishop wasn’t tested a lot in posting his first career playoff shutout. Coburn was obtained from Philadelphia in a trade March 2 and had one goal for Tampa Bay during the regular season.

Tyler Johnson’s third two-goal game of the series helped the Lightning even the series with a 5-2 victory in Detroit on Monday night. With Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall suspended for Game 7 for a hit on Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning felt good heading back to Amalie Arena, where it posted the NHL’s best home record this season.

But after winning the series opener, as well as shutting out the Lightning in Game 5, on the road, Detroit liked its chances of advancing, too.

The Red Wings outshot the Lightning 14-7 in the first period, but had few real scoring opportunities early against Bishop.

They didn’t generate much more in the second period, although there was an anxious moment for the sellout crowd of 19,204 when Drew Miller’s chip got behind Bishop when the goaltender left the net to cut off the forward on a breakaway. The puck trickled left past the unprotected net, and Detroit wasted another chance to break the scoreless tie when Tomas Tatar was unable to control a pass from Darren Helm and get off a shot in front of the Tampa goal.

Detroit’s frustration on the power play also continued. The Red Wings were 0 for 3 in man-advantage situations Wednesday night and five of 29 for the series.