TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Alex Killorn snapped a third-period tie with his 11th career playoff goal, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of their first-round series Wednesday night.
Ben Bishop had 34 saves for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who got the winner from Killorn less than two minutes after a potential go-ahead goal was waived off when Detroit coach Jeff Blashill successfully challenged that Tampa Bay should have been called for offsides before Victor Hedman scored.
Tyler Johnson picked up a loose puck along the boards and fed Killorn, who slipped the puck past Jimmy Howard at 8:52 of the third.
Kucherov scored in the first and second periods and also assisted on the winner.
Mike Green and Justin Abdelkader scored for Detroit, which outshot the Lightning 36-34 but had few real scoring opportunities after taking a 2-1 lead in the second period.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Friday night at Amalie Arena.
