Detroit − The Red Wings received a bit of an early holiday gift Wednesday from Tampa Bay.
Elmer Soderblom broke a tie early in the third period with a gift-wrapped goal, then Dylan Larkin scored on a bad angle on Lightning goalie Brian Elliott, as the Wings ended a six-game winless streak with a 7-4 victory.
Tampa cut the lead to 5-4 on Nikita Kucherov's 13th goal, at 16 minutes 13 seconds, sneaking a shot past Wings goaltender Ville Husso.
But David Perron clinched it with his 11th goal, an empty netter, at 17:27, and Michael Rasmussen added further insurance with another empty netter, Rasmussen's second goal of the game, sending the Wings to a needed victory.