Lightning coach Jon Cooper views Red Wings' interference as cheating

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The Red Wings have backed the Lightning into a corner after taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series with a 4-0 victory Saturday in Tampa Bay. Desperate for a win Monday to force Game 7 and avoid elimination, Lightning coach Jon Cooper has voiced his concern about Detroit's use of interference and the advantage it gives them.

"There are 30 teams in the league and nobody does (interference) more than the Detroit Red Wings, hands down," Cooper said, via the Tampa Bay Times. "The old saying is, 'If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.' They do it to a 'T'.

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"My message to our guys is you've got to suck it up, got to fight through it. And if they're bringing it, you've got to bring a gun to a knife fight. That's how it has to go. So to get on them, we have to be better."

The Lightning scored a league-high 262 goals in the regular season (3.19 per game) but have been held to 10 by the Red Wings in the first five games of the first-round series.

Red Wings forward Drew Miller was quick to dismiss Cooper's comments, saying the objective has been to offset the Lightning's speed.

“They might not be happy with what we’re doing, but usually when things make someone not happy they’re effective, so I don’t know if that’s a penalty or what they’re thinking it is, but it’s the way we play, and I don’t see it changing,” Miller said. “Maybe he’s just trying to rile his guys or put a thought in the referees’ heads or something, I’m not sure. It’s just a situation that I’m not really worried about.”

Detroit will host Tampa Bay for Game 6 on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. If the Lightning can hold on, they will host the Red Wings for Game 7 on Wednesday.

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