While the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to move up the Eastern Conference standings, their captain Victor Hedman keeps checking off milestones. The Lightning and their hulking defenseman will finish a two-game homestand Saturday night against the sizzling Detroit Red Wings in the opener of four matchups between the Atlantic Division foes.

With the Panthers getting into penalty trouble in the second period, the Red Wings made them pay a second time when Dylan Larkin went to the crease and re-directed a tape-to-tape centering feed from Patrick Kane through traffic into the cage to make it 2-1 at 7:52.

Special teams success was the key to victory for the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The Red Wings dominated on the power play, scoring three times on just four shots to take down the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Ducks were coming off of one of their poorest offensive performances of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals. The Lightning came into this game after recently seeing their four-game point streak snapped on Tuesday when they lost 6-2 to the Boston Bruins.

The Lightning were a tired team Thursday night against the Ducks. Yes, they were back home. But after returning from Boston Wednesday following a three-game, four-day road trip — part of a 16-game gauntlet (10 on the road) in January — they were a weary group.

The Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning faced off for the second time in two weeks last night when they battled for 65 minutes plus a shootout at Amalie Arena in Tampa.