Kucherov wants out, Hagel hits Larkin, and Tampa still beats Detroit

Why the Lightning beat the Red Wings tonight

Nikita Kucherov wants out of Tampa Bay and it does not matter tonight. The Lightning are 8-3-2 and 6-0-0 at Benchmark International Arena. Four of those six home wins came by two or more goals. Kucherov still leads the team with 18 points, 14 of them assists, and he had three assists in a 5-4 shootout loss at Nashville on Saturday.

Detroit shows up tired. The Red Wings beat Florida 5-3 on Monday, so this is the second night of a back-to-back against a team that last played Saturday. Dylan Larkin is suspended without pay and is not playing. We got Tampa Bay at 7pm ET.

What Brandon Hagel said about Kucherov and Dylan Larkin

Brandon Hagel talked after the morning skate and defended his teammate. His point: Kucherov never signed for eight years and then asked out two years in. Nobody had to guess who that was about. Larkin signed an eight-year deal in Detroit that runs through 2030-31 and has told the Red Wings he wants out. Hagel has 8 goals and 16 points in 13 games, so he gets to talk.

The situations are not the same, and Hagel is right about that. Kucherov is in the final season of an eight-year, $76 million deal. He has been in Tampa Bay for 13 seasons. He told the team he will not re-sign and asked for a trade, and he kept playing. Larkin stopped coming to the rink.

Will the Lightning trade Nikita Kucherov?

Not if Julien BriseBois means what he said. The Lightning general manager said the team has "no intention of trading Nikita." Kucherov has said publicly that he felt disrespected by the front office, and he says BriseBois told him he is free to walk on July 1. The Athletic's Chris Johnston reported he wants to be the first $20 million player in NHL history on a six-year deal, and he is 33.

That is a fight for next summer. Tonight, the Lightning still have him on the ice, along with Jake Guentzel, who has 8 goals, and Hagel, who has 8 more. A team with that much scoring at home does not lose to a tired Red Wings team because of a contract story.

The case for the Red Wings

Here is the fair side. Detroit is 3-1-2 on the road and allows 24.5 shots a game, tied for third-fewest in the league. Its power play runs at 23.5% against a Tampa Bay unit at 15.2%, 28th in the NHL. Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 3.00 goals-against average and an .877 save percentage this season, well off his .929 career mark against Detroit, and he has allowed four or more goals in three of his last four starts. Alex DeBrincat has 16 points and Viktor Arvidsson has 8 goals. The Red Wings were 1-3-0 without Larkin before Monday's win, and they have still played well enough to sit one point behind Tampa Bay.

Who wins Red Wings at Lightning?

Tampa Bay. Vasilevskiy is 19-5-2 against Detroit for his career, and the Lightning went 3-0-1 against the Red Wings last season. John Gibson, the likely Detroit starter, is at .860 with a 3.37 goals-against average, and Detroit had not named a starter when these numbers were posted.

DraftKings has the Lightning at -265 for a reason. One locker room has a star who wants out and still shows up. The other has a former captain on the suspended list and tired legs. We got Tampa Bay. Who you got?