TAMPA, Fla. -- It happens every spring.

Every time the puck drops to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs, the first round is always emotional. It's always physical. Players are gripping their sticks a little tighter and nerves are normal. The trick is to keep those emotions in check.

Players around the league who have played in the postseason will admit the first round is always the toughest.

A season ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning thought they had a good team when they faced the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. But after four quick games, four losses, Tampa was done.

The Lightning did not want to relive that again.

Already down 0-1 in their first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, the Lightning responded with a 5-1 victory in Game 2 Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena.

Despite a solid effort in Game 1, the Lightning were convinced that if they could play the same way moving forward, they would have success. The Lightning's game plan was to play hard and control the puck. When Tampa didn't have the puck, it wanted to make life harder on the Red Wings with a strong, physical style of play.

"We stuck together all game. We played physical. We played hard and finally the hard work paid off," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

"We deserved a little better in Game 1. We could have easily felt sorry for ourselves and come out and not give the effort, but we're a confident group. We've had that quiet confidence about us all year. We knew if we kept playing the same way we did, competed, put the effort in and executed the game plan, eventually it was going to go our way, and we did that tonight."

The feeling-out process of this series is over.

Game 2 started fast and furious and the first period featured a pair of lively scrums. The Red Wings didn't like a hit on Pavel Datsyuk near the Tampa bench when a scrum ensued. It ended with Stamkos and the Red Wings' Kyle Quincey in a wrestling match at 2:27 of the period. That ignited the Lightning, and Tyler Johnson scored his first power-play goal at 3:05 for a 1-0 lead.

The physicality continued for the remainder of the game and no doubt should last for the rest of the series.

"We stood up for one another and we tried to skate away from any of the extra nonsense," said Lightning veteran Brian Boyle. "You want to play hard. You want to play clean. It's a fine line and it's even finer in the playoffs. You've got to play with an edge and play hard, but not go too far and step over that edge."

Similar to Game 1, goaltending was crucial for the winning team.

After struggling a bit in Game 1, Lightning coach Jon Cooper knew goaltender Ben Bishop was focused and on his game early in Game 2. After Tampa gained a 2-0 lead early in the second period, Detroit came on hard. Bishop saw a lot of shots and enough traffic by the Red Wings to think maybe Detroit was gaining some confidence; he stood tall and kept the opposition at bay.

Once the Lightning scored their third goal -- Andrej Sustr's first of the season -- Detroit was all done.

"When you play that many games [62] in a season as a starting goaltender, every one's not going to be a Picasso," Cooper said. "But he has shown time and time again he's a bounce-back guy, and he showed that again tonight."

As good as Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek was in Game 1 (44 saves on 46 shots), Tampa wanted to create more havoc in front of him in Game 2. The Lightning were desperate, and it showed in the second efforts around the net on quality scoring chances.

"We were angry down there," Cooper said. "When you get a little angry, we just wanted it. Pucks bounced our way a little bit, but we were in the battle hard. We were pretty physical tonight, and you could see our bench get a little bit taller when those guys are battling the way they are."

With Tampa holding a 4-0 lead after two periods, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock decided to make a goaltending change, so veteran Jimmy Howard played the third period. After the loss, Babcock announced Mrazek will start Game 3.

"Our goalie obviously stole Game 1," Babcock said. "We were better [in Game 2] but Bishop was way better here tonight and made some huge saves in second period, particularly on the power play when we had it going pretty good."

Babcock also stated that forward Justin Abdelkader, who has missed the first two games due to a hand injury, will be in the lineup for the Red Wings in Game 3. The series now shifts to Detroit for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The Lightning realize it will be a hostile environment at Joe Louis Arena and it won't be easy. While Tampa would be content with a split on the road, the Red Wings want both games.

"We're going home and I'll be in my hot tub by 10 tonight, and the sun's going to get up tomorrow and we've got a five-game series against Tampa and it looks like it's going to be fun," Babcock said.

A season ago, the Lightning were younger and more inexperienced. They added an overall veteran presence during the offseason and at the trade deadline, and now could be poised for a deep playoff run if they can continue to play the way they did in the first two games against the Red Wings.

"We dipped our toes in the water last year, and now we feel like we can just jump right in the lake," Cooper said.