TAMPA, Fla. -- The building was packed with thousands of fans dressed in red and white who occasionally started chants of “Let’s Go Red Wings!” Even an octopus or two was tossed onto the ice.

It was the kind of environment

enjoyed for 27 years. But not Thursday, when the first-year general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning watched his old club take his new team to the woodshed.

scored two goals to lead the Detroit Red Wings past the Lightning 6-2 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

The once-beleaguered Lightning have made tremendous strides under Yzerman. They were tied with Detroit for fourth overall in the NHL standings coming into the game. But it was clear at the end of the night these clubs aren’t that close.

Oddly, the Red Wings got a lift from the crowd at the start of the game and, playing on the road, sent most fans home happy.

“It felt like we were at home,” Detroit goaltender

said. “It was crazy. That’s awesome to see. We’re very thankful for our fans. They’re very passionate and emotional about the game. It was a great turnout for us down here.”

The Red Wings are accustomed to seeing a large turnout of their fans on the road, particularly in places like Tampa Bay, Florida, Phoenix, Nashville and Carolina. This was the biggest turnout many players could recall seeing.

“We got a good following, that’s for sure, the history of the team, we’ve had good success,” forward

said. “Fans follow us, and obviously, there’s a lot of snowbirds down here. We put on a good show for them.”

Said coach

: “That might have been the biggest I’ve ever seen in the all years I’ve been here on the road. We’ve had some unbelievable crowds, but tonight that was a good crowd.”

Cleary had a goal and two assists.

,

and

scored for the Red Wings.

and

each had two assists.

“We knew they were going to be up for this game,” Cleary said. “They’re having a good season. Both teams used it as a measuring stick, so it was an important win for us.”

After Tampa Bay tied the game on goals by Victor Hedman and Steve Downie 2:47 apart midway through the second period, the Red Wings answered with goals from Kronwall and Abdelkader in a span of 1:26 late in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.

Kronwall scored his team’s second power-play goal of the game at 16:34, when his shot deflected in off Hedman’s skate.

Abdelkader scored at the 18-minute mark, easily tapping in a pass from Tomas Holmstrom. It was his first goal in 41 games, dating to Nov. 17.

“We kept our composure and didn’t get away from the game plan,” Howard said.

Lightning coach Guy Boucher said his team gave everything it had, but, “We just got beat by a better team than us. This is the best team in the league, the most experienced. They’ve got all their players and this is the standard in our league.”

The Red Wings, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Cleary (6:40 on the power play) and Datsyuk (14:57), broke it open in the third period, as Datsyuk scored his second goal at 11:39 and and Helm scored on a breakaway at 18:09.

The Red Wings held NHL goals and points leader Steven Stamkos to one assist.

“We didn’t give him a whole lot of time and space with the puck. We stayed close to him,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.

Babcock liked his team’s balance -- the Red Wings used four lines, the Lightning used three. He was happy with defenseman Brad Stuart’s performance in his first game back after missing 15 games with a broken jaw.

Somebody asked Lidstrom if he felt bad for administering such a beating on Yzerman’s team.

“No, it’s a business, we’re here to win games,” Lidstrom said. “It’s somewhat awkward seeing his name associated with a different organization. It’s still a business.”

Said Babcock: “Stevie’s a guy were proud of. We’re cheering for him every night, except when he plays us.”