Lightning beat Red Wings 5-3, keep pace in playoff race

Jake Dotchin defends against Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader in Tampa Bay’s 5-3 win Thursday night.The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 at Amalie Arena in Tampa Thursday night.

A lineup depleted by injuries and illness has been the consistent theme throughout the entire season for the Lightning.

“Eventually you need secondary scoring. Somebody’s going to lead your team in scoring. Somebody’s going to be second. Somebody’s going to be third. That’s just how it works. But when you’re missing those guys, the goals have got to come from somewhere. For Brownie (J.T. Brown) to get the first one, especially when we fell behind, it was big to get that to bring it back to even. To get…