It wasn’t that long ago that as a Tampa Bay Lightning fan, the Detroit Red Wings were one of my most disliked franchises. They’re an Original Six team. Some of the best players to ever play the game are alumni of the team, with Gordie Howe topping that list along with Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, Pavel Datsyuk, and the glut of Russians whose services they secured in the 1990s.
The Lightning currently have a 28-28-2-2 record against the Red Wings in the regular season. But it took a 16-1-0 run over the last 17 games against the Red Wings going back to 2015-16 to even up the franchise series.