Tyler Johnson rallies Lightning to 3-2 overtime win

DETROIT – The turning point of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 3-2 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings stuck out like Luke Glendening's sore thumb.

Glendening is a role player on Detroit, a speedy forward with a reputation of being a merciless checker and stingy penalty killer. But when he hurt his thumb in a roughing episode with Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman in the third period, it might have changed the course of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

It clearly played a major role Thursday in allowing the Lightning to erase a two-goal deficit to beat the Red Wings 3-2 on an overtime goal by Tyler Johnson in Game 4. That ties the best-of-seven series 2-2 heading into Saturday's Game 5 in Tampa.

"(Glendening's) done a heck of a job on our guys and they lost a player that plays an extremely important role for them," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

The injury occurred at 12:52 with Detroit holding a 2-0 lead. Glendening had been successfully checking Johnson for nearly two full games, and as soon as Glendening left, the Lightning center went on an offensive rampage.

When Johnson scored on a snap shot at 14:34 of the third period, it was the first goal that had found the back of the net against Detroit goalie Peter Mrazek in almost 120 minutes.

Only 77 seconds later, Johnson drew the assist on linemate Ondrej Palat's deflection goal to tie the game.

Johnson then scored at 2:25 of overtime, after a nifty set-up by Hedman.

The Lightning were the NHL's highest-scoring team, and even when they were trailing 2-0, there was a sense that if they scored one goal against Mrazek, they were going to net the three needed to win.

"That's what we were telling ourselves," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. "We just need that one, and go from there."

As soon as Johnson scored, the Lightning looked like a different team.

"As we got that one, we grew a couple of inches on the bench," Cooper said.

It's not as if Johnson's line took advantage of weak opponents to rally the Lightning. Pavel Datsyuk is considered one of the NHL's top defensive forwards, and his line was out against Johnson for all three Tampa goals.

Johnson's line had been a factor in the first two games in Tampa Bay, and then Detroit coach Mike Babcock, owning the last change at home, decided to put Glendening on him at Joe Louis. That adjustment worked until Glendening had to leave to get stitches.

"Obviously, it was a big play of the game," Babcock said. "I really thought we should've been going on a power play there."

Glendening tangled with Hedman after he laid a hit on Johnson along the boards.

Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop gave up a distressing goal in the second period to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. Joakim Andersson took a shot, and Bishop batted the puck into his net. But Bishop's ability to hold the Red Wings the rest of the way bought the Lightning the time to rally.

"(Goalies) can't always win it for you, but they can lose it," Cooper said. "He didn't lose it."

The question now is whether there will be carry-over from this game. Will the Lightning be brimming with confidence? Will the Red Wings feel like they lost a golden opportunity to go up 3-1 in the series?

Babcock said he doesn't often talk to players after a game, but he elected to do so after the Game 4 loss.

"I really believe a couple of things in life," Babcock said. "I believe if you think you can, you can. The second thing is I believe we stole Game 1 and they just stole this game. So to me, it should be 2-2. Here it is, best of three, let's play."

The early report is Glendening will be ready for Game 5, although Cooper will have the last change in Tampa, meaning he can keep Johnson away from him.

Glendening called his bandaged thumb "nothing too serious."

"You never really know until game time, but the (doctor) says that they've sewn up (Glendening) and that he is going to be fine," Babcock said.

Game 4 was simply more evidence that everything matters at playoff time, even the seven-minute absence of a fourth-line forward.

PHOTOS: First round of the Stanley Cup playoffs