The puck will officially drop on the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs when the Red Wings and Lightning hit the ice Wednesday night at Amalie Arena.
Detroit is in the postseason for the record 25th straight season, this time under first-year coach Jeff Blashill, who will be trying to outsmart defending Eastern Conference champion bench boss, his good friend Jon Cooper.
The Red Wings notched 41 wins and 93 points this season to clinch the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit lost to Tampa Bay in seven games, blowing three separate series leads, in the first round last postseason.
The Lightning earned 46 wins and 97 points to clinch their third straight trip to the playoffs. Tampa Bay went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season, losing to Chicago in six games.
There are a lot of injuries to Lightning players right now, including the likes of Steven Stamkos (blood clot) and Anton Stralman (leg), but Tyler Johnson -- who scored 13 goals in 23 games last postseason -- thinks he'll be able to play after dealing with a lower-body injury.
"I feel pretty good," Johnson told NHL.com. "I'll have to wait and see but I feel good. It's up to those guys."
Nikita Kucherov paced the Lightning with 66 points this season, while Henrik Zetterberg has a team-high 50 points for Detroit. The goaltending matchup is expected to be Ben Bishop against Jimmy Howard. As rookie Dylan Larkin makes his NHL playoff debut for Detroit, this is likely the final postseason for teammate Pavel Datsyuk as he contemplates a return to Russia.
Either way, the Red Wings expect the series to go deep.
"It was a fun series last year," Zetterberg said per NHL.com. "We played good enough last year to go through but they did it. They found a way to win and they went all the way to the Final. So we have to find that extra thing to take us over the hump."
Game Preview & Live Stream
Details: Red Wings at Lightning Game 1
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, Fla.
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Radio: Detroit (97.1 The Ticket); Tampa Bay (WDAE 620).
Prediction: Our predictions for this series can be found here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
