Lightning at Wild
The red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning begin another long stretch away from home Thursday night when they attempt to snap a four-game losing streak against the struggling Minnesota Wild. The Lightning have won 11 of their last 12 games to pull within six points of first-place Boston in the Atlantic Division as they prepare to play six in a row on the road, straddling the All-Star break.
Tampa Bay has allowed 23 goals during the last dozen contests, but had to rally twice as reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov tied the game with the extra skater on and 1:15 left in regulation before his team beat Los Angeles 4-3 in a shootout. “I think we were due 6-on-5 at some point,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters after the win. “. … Big time shot by Kuch. It was one of those when you’re staring zero points in the face and you end up coming away with two, you’ve got to take that and run.” Minnesota won 5-4 at Tampa Bay on Dec. 5 when it was enjoying an 11-game point streak, but the Wild have cooled off considerably with four straight losses (0-3-1) - six in the past seven contests - after a 7-3 setback at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. “This is what we did early on in the year, is we said, ‘Woe is me’ on our mistakes and then it goes for a big slide,” Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after the latest loss. “We have to end this slide now, no matter who we’re playing.”
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (28-14-4): Center Anthony Cirelli finished with a pair of assists in Tuesday’s win, including a big faceoff win that directed the puck straight to Kucherov for a blast from the high slot that tied the game late. “I think when you have him on your team, he seems to do all that stuff every game,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said of Cirelli. “You don’t want to say it gets old because when other guys do it, they’re great plays but for him he does it night in and night out.” Kucherov recorded 10 of his team-leading 50 points in the last nine games and left wing Alex Killorn notched three of his team-best 19 goals in the past five contests.
ABOUT THE WILD (20-20-6): Left wing Zach Parise scored twice in the loss at Pittsburgh to tie veteran center Eric Staal for the team lead with 16 goals and snap a 10-game drought. Staal leads Minnesota with 33 points despite being kept off the scoresheet in four straight games while defenseman Ryan Suter is second on the team with 30 after being blanked in the last three contests and posting a minus-4 rating Tuesday. Devan Dubnyk (8-12-2, .892) allowed seven goals on 29 shots against Pittsburgh, but has been stellar against Tampa Bay in his career with a 4-2-1 record, .937 SP and two shutouts - one last season.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota LW Marcus Foligno boasts five goals in five games this month after managing four in the season’s first 31 contests.
2. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy (23-9-2) has won nine straight games and boasts a .961 save percentage in January.
3. The Wild allowed nine power-play goals in 26 opportunities over the last six contests and the Lightning are second in the league with the man advantage at 27.4 percent.