Getty
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s attempt to win three Stanley Cup trophies got off to a rocky start when the defending champions lost 6-2 at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. The Lightning can now kick off their 2021 NHL season if they manage to bounce back against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.
The game (7:30 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on Bally Sports Sun for those who live in the Lightning Market and on Bally Sports Detroit for those who live in the Red Wings Market. It will also be broadcast live on ESPN + for everyone outside of the US market.
Here’s a full rundown of how you can watch a live stream of the Lightning vs. Red Wings in the US, with your options depending on where you live:
Heavy can earn affiliate commission if you sign up through a link on this page
If the game is in your market
DirectTV Stream
Note: This is the only streaming service that broadcasts Bally Sports regional sports networks.
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) offers four different channel packages: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier”. Bally Sports Sun (live at local markets) and Bally Sports Detroit (local markets) are included in “Choice” and more.
You can register here :
Get the DirectTV stream
Once registered with DirecTV Stream, you can watch the Lightning vs Red Wings live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (like a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet . Or you can watch it on your computer through the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the option to upgrade to 500 hours).
If the game is out of your market
ESPN +
Viewers in the United States can watch all of the NHL’s non-market, non-televised nationwide games (over 1,000 games in total) on ESPN +, which replaces NHL.tv this season and is a must-see for any fan. of the NHL:
Get ESPN +
ESPN +, which also includes around 75 NHL exclusive national games, plus dozens of other live sports, each existing 30 for 30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) costs 6.99 $ for a month or $ 69.99 for a year (or about seven cents per NHL game if you want to look at it that way).
If you also want Disney + and Hulu, you can get all three for $ 13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total of $ 20.97 per month, so you save around 33%:
Get the ESPN +, Disney + and Hulu bundle
Once registered with ESPN +, you can watch the Lightning vs Red Wings (either team’s show) live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X / S, any device with Android TV (like a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer through ESPN.com.
Lightning vs Red Wings preview
If there was anything worth salvaging from the Tampa Bay opening night wreckage, it had to be the performance of center Anthony Cirelli. He scored one and provided an assist to help the Lightning stage a valiant but brief response in the third period. Cirelli’s brilliance was a rare bright spot, although captain Steven Stamkos also drew attention with his creativity.
Stamkos and Cirelli can overwhelm a suspicious Red Wings blue line. Detroit’s hope for a stronger defensive game this season rests with new goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. He is being counted on for big things after he arrives in an offseason trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. Nedeljkovic only allowed a 1.90 goals against average as a rookie last season, and he should have the right angles more often than his predecessor Jonathan Bernier.
The Red Wings will need a big effort from Nedeljkovic and those before him as this team always seems light on offense. Head coach Jeff Blashill’s troubles are compounded by newcomer Jakub Vrana starting the campaign on the injured list after undergoing shoulder surgery. Former Washington Capitals winger Vrana needed to add some creativity and a punch, but as it stands, captain and center Dylan Larkin will have to shoulder the burden of offense.
The Red Wings are not a team that can match the Lightning point by point. Not when Tampa Bay can also call on the scoring exploits of winger Nikita Kucherov and center Brayden Point. It was the latter who scored 23 goals last season, including six on the power play.
There is no noticeable weakness in this attack, but the true strength of the Lightning runs deeper. The defense is superbly supported by stubborn goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy, while defender Victor Hedman is another key cog in this unit. It’s hard to believe that Larkin and his teammates will summon enough magic to trouble Tampa Bay from the back.
If the Red Wings have any hope, it will come from how the Lightning missed Barclay Goodrow and veteran center Tyler Johnson. The two were a major influence in last season’s playoffs, but were traded in the offseason, with Goodrow joining the New York Rangers, while Johnson was transferred to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Along with another key loss, Yanni Gourde, who joined the Seattle Kraken expansion, Goodrow and Johnson provided the Lightning with exceptional strength at depth that no other team in the league could match. If, and this is a big if, the Red Wings can control the Tampa headlights, Detroit could stick around long enough to produce a noticeable shock.
It is more likely, however, that the reigning champions will reset quickly and begin to assert themselves as the favorites for another title.
No Comment