Lightning respects Wings most of teams it's beaten

If it's any consolation, of all the teams they eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Tampa Bay Lightning players were most impressed with the Detroit Red Wings.

At least that's according to an informal dressing room survey of 10 Lightning players by si.com's Craig Custance at the finals. Five voted for the Wings.

The Lightning's other opponents were the Montreal Canadiens, who lost the first three games but extended the second round series to six, and the New York Rangers, who lost Game 7 at home.

"The Detroit series was the most physical, and the space out there was very limited," Tampa Bay defenseman Jason Garrison said. "I was just coming back from an injury, and that might have had something to do with it. Things were happening quick; guys were all over the place; and you're fighting for every inch out there. That team had experience, and you could tell when you played against them."

Said defenseman Matt Carle: "The Detroit series was probably hardest for us. Detroit played a similar game to us. It was almost like playing a mirror image of ourselves, which made it tough. … It was a battle, the whole series, the way they skated and moved the puck."

Custance said that might have had something to do with the Steve Yzerman factor, the general manager who "has built a team in Florida that most definitely has DNA from the organization he left in Detroit."

Three Lightning players voted for the Rangers, their opponent in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I would have to give a lot of credit to New York," right wing J.T. Brown said. "That was a hard-fought series. You can't go wrong with a seven-game series, and it was basically an away-ice battle. Having to win Game 7 in Madison Square Garden — it was tough."

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Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.