Wild at Lightning
Victor Hedman was the preseason pick by many to win the Norris Trophy this season, and after a slow start, the 6-6 defenseman is surging offensively as his Tampa Bay Lightning prepare to host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Hedman has recorded two goals, six assists and a plus-9 rating in the last five games for the Lightning, who have won eight of their last nine contests.
“Victor’s definitely in beast mode right now,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters after Hedman recorded an assist and nine shots in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout win over Ottawa. “It’s been fun to watch. He can command, take over a game. Right now, he’s feeling it.” Nikita Kucherov also is red-hot with 10 points in six games and hopes to add to his league-leading 50 when the Lightning takes on the Wild, who dropped a 4-2 decision at Florida on Friday. Minnesota took a 2-1 lead into the third period but gave up three unanswered tallies to fall to 1-2-0 on its four-game road trip. “We made a couple mistakes and they put it in,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters. “Then you’re fighting from behind, chasing the game, and they’re digging in in their building. It’s a blown game.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE WILD (18-14-3): Eric Staal has notched five points in his last five games for a team-leading 31 but came up empty on Friday while Jason Zucker (25 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in six straight contests. Ryan Suter scored his fifth goal of the season against Florida and has posted seven points in his last seven games while fellow defenseman Matt Dumba notched his fifth point in four contests. Nino Niederreiter (10 goals, 16 points) left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury and his status for Saturday is uncertain.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (25-7-2): Kucherov and captain Steven Stamkos have combined for 95 points, but linemate Vladislav Namestnikov also has been a major factor with a career-high 15 goals. “He’s got all the tools, but his hockey IQ is very high,” Stamkos told reporters regarding Namestnikov. “We just read off each other. I thought the last couple games, we’ve gotten our groove back a little bit as a line.” Tampa Bay has allowed eight power-play goals in its last four games but leads the league while on the man advantage (27.4 percent).
OVERTIME
1. Staal has scored 33 goals in 69 career games versus the Lightning, the most he has produced against any team.
2. Tampa Bay C Yanni Gourde has notched nine points in nine games this month after scoring his career-best 11th goal on Thursday.
3. The last seven games in the series have been won by the home team, and two of the last three ended in a shootout.