Lightning Rally From Two Goals Down to Beat Wild in Overtime
By Ernie Norquist | Thunderstruck Sports
Two of the NHL’s hottest teams collide Saturday night in the State of Hockey.
The Tampa Bay Lightning (10-3-2), fourth in the Eastern Conference, visit the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild (12-3-3) at Grand Casino Arena. Tampa Bay is unbeaten at home but still seeking consistency on the road.
Two Teams Playing Exceptional Hockey
Tampa Bay is third in the Atlantic Division with 22 points and has gone 6-2-2 in its last 10 games. The Lightning enter on a two-game winning streak.
Minnesota leads both the Central Division and the Western Conference with 27 points. The Wild are 7-1-2 over their last 10 games and have won three straight.
Home Cooking Versus Road Questions.
The Lightning are a perfect 8-0 at home but just 2-3-2 on the road, with all seven road games against Western Conference opponents. Minnesota is 5-0-1 at home, while the Wild are 7-3-2 on the road.
History is not on Tampa Bay’s side in St. Paul, where the Lightning are 3-14-2 against the Wild.
Goaltending and a Back-to-Back.
Dennis Hildeby starts in net for the Lightning, while Calvin Pickard gets the nod for the Wild, who are playing the second game of a back-to-back after a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday. Minnesota could be playing on tired legs, and Tampa Bay will look to take advantage early.
Off-Ice Drama Follows Both Clubs.
Both teams are winning as contract talks hang in the background. For Tampa Bay, it is the well-documented contract extension for Nikita Kucherov. The Wild face a similar situation with Quinn Hughes.
Wild Strike Twice in Three Minutes.
Minnesota wasted no time. Blake Coleman scored on the Wild’s first shot of the night, 55 seconds in, beating Hildeby off the shoulder with a wrist shot from 31 feet. Olli Määttä and Hughes assisted.
Tampa Bay then handed Minnesota a chance to build on its lead. A too-many-men penalty at 1:46 sent the Lightning shorthanded, and the Wild cashed in. Maxim Shabanov scored on a backhand from seven feet at 2:58, with assists from Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild led 2-0 before the three-minute mark.
Foligno Brothers Give the Lightning a Spark.
Tampa Bay found its spark at 9:42, when Nick Foligno was called for roughing and his younger brother, Marcus Foligno, stepped in to defend him by fighting Scott Sabourin. The fighting majors offset, but Nick Foligno’s roughing minor gave the Lightning a two-minute power play.
The Lightning could not convert. Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point put shots on Pickard, and another attempt hit the post. Even so, the power play showed the level of competition Tampa Bay lacked after a slow start.
Lightning Flip the Shot Advantage.
Tampa Bay did not get a shot on goal until 3:37, but controlled much of the rest of the period, finishing with a 9-8 edge in shots and a 9-5 edge in hits. Pickard, however, stopped all nine shots he faced, while Hildeby stopped six of eight.
The Lightning also took a late interference penalty, and Brandon Hagel hit the post shorthanded at 18:43. Minnesota went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Tampa Bay went 0-for-1.
First Period by the Number
Lightning | Wild | |
Score | 0 | 2 |
Shots on goal | 9 | 8 |
Power play | 0-for-1 | 1-for-2 |
Penalty minutes | 9 | 7 |
Hits | 9 | 5 |
Blocked shots | 4 | 8 |
Faceoff win percentage | 43.5% (10 of 23) | 56.5% (13 of 23) |
Giveaways | 6 | 3 |
Takeaways | 2 | 1 |
Goaltending | Hildeby, six saves on eight shots | Pickard, nine saves on nine shots |
Guentzel’s Slash Saves a Goal but Costs Tampa Bay a Man.
The second period opened with a costly gamble. Guentzel was called for slashing at 1:14 on a play that saved a goal, sending the Lightning shorthanded early. Tampa Bay answered with a clean kill, keeping the deficit at two.
Guentzel Cashes In on a Four-Minute Power Play.
Tampa Bay got its opening at 12:56, when Ryan Hartman was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing, both penalties drawn by J.J. Moser. The two minors gave the Lightning a four-minute power play, and Guentzel made the Wild pay. He scored his ninth goal of the season at 16:34 of the period, ripping a slap shot from 39 feet to cut the lead to 2-1. Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Kucherov assisted. It was the first time the Lightning had solved Pickard all night, and it put them back in the game.
Tampa Bay got another chance late in the period when Hughes was called for high-sticking at 17:23, a penalty drawn by Conor Geekie. This time, the Lightning failed to capitalize.
Compete Level Stays High on Both Sides.
The intensity was high from start to finish, as expected from two teams of this caliber, but Tampa Bay held the edge. The Lightning outshot Minnesota 10-7 in the period and led 19-15 through two periods. Kucherov has seven shots on goal, five of them on the power play. Hildeby shut the door on all seven shots he faced in the period, while Pickard has made 18 saves on 19 shots.
Physical Play Adds Edge to a Rare Matchup
After Marcus Foligno and Sabourin dropped the gloves in the first period, the second period saw similar mix-ups between the Lightning and Wild. That is rare for two teams that meet only twice a year. It also signals how tight parity is across the league, forcing teams to play every game with urgency.
Through Two Periods by the Number
Lightning | Wild | |
Score | 1 | 2 |
Shots on goal | 19 | 15 |
Power play | 1-for-4 | 1-for-3 |
Penalty minutes | 13 | 15 |
Hits | 12 | 10 |
Blocked shots | 6 | 18 |
Faceoff win percentage | 56.1% (23 of 41) | 43.9% (18 of 41) |
Giveaways | 8 | 6 |
Takeaways | 4 | 2 |
Goaltending | Hildeby, 13 saves on 15 shots | Pickard, 18 saves on 19 shots |
Shabanov Extends the Wild’s Lead.
The physical play carried into the third period, and the level of competition remained high on both sides. At 6:49, Shabanov snapped a wrist shot from 18 feet past Hildeby, unassisted, for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 Minnesota lead.
Lightning Show Their Mettle.
Down two goals, Tampa Bay kept the pressure on Minnesota, and the hard work paid off at 13:44. Guentzel tipped in a shot from nine feet for his second goal of the night and 10th of the season, cutting the Wild’s lead to 3-2 with 6:16 left. Point picked up his 700th career point on the play, with D’Astous also assisting. Through that point, the Lightning held a 6-4 edge in shots on goal in the period.
D’Astous Ties It With the Goalie Pulled.
Conor Geekie’s continued maturation showed again when he drew a holding penalty on Blake Coleman at 14:37. The Lightning came up short on the power play, but they were far from finished.
At 16:21, Jon Cooper pulled Hildeby for an extra attacker, a move that has become a common sight for the Lightning’s bench boss and paid dividends this time. Eight seconds later, D’Astous fired a slap shot from 53 feet that deflected off a Wild defender and into the net, his third goal of the season, tying the game 3-3 with 3:31 remaining. John Carlson and Point assisted, giving Point his second assist of the period.
After a slow start, the Lightning earned at least a point, as the game ended 3-3 after regulation.
Regulation by the Number
Lightning | Wild | |
Score | 3 | 3 |
Shots on goal | 31 | 20 |
Power play | 2-for-5 | 1-for-3 |
Penalty minutes | 13 | 17 |
Hits | 17 | 19 |
Blocked shots | 10 | 22 |
Faceoff win percentage | 57.1% (32 of 56) | 42.9% (24 of 56) |
Giveaways | 12 | 11 |
Takeaways | 6 | 4 |
Goaltending | Hildeby, 17 saves on 20 shots | Pickard, 28 saves on 31 shots |
Lightning Trio Digs In to Open Overtime.
Zemgus Girgensons, Pontus Holmberg and Moser started overtime for Tampa Bay and battled for nearly two minutes before finally leaving the ice.
After two and a half minutes of puck possession, the Wild not only gave up the puck but also handed Tampa Bay a man advantage. At 2:30, Matt Boldy was called for tripping after a penalty drawn by Kucherov, sending the Lightning to the power play.
Kucherov made them pay. On the power play at 3:21, he fired a wrist shot from 35 feet past Pickard for his fifth goal of the season, lifting the Lightning to a 4-3 overtime win. Guentzel, who picked up the primary assist, finished with a three-point night, and Carlson also assisted.
Final by the Numbers
Lightning | Wild | |
Score | 4 (OT) | 3 |
Shots on goal | 34 | 22 |
Shots by period (1st, 2nd, 3rd, OT) | 9, 10, 12, 3 | 8, 7, 5, 2 |
Power play | 3-for-6 | 1-for-3 |
Penalty minutes | 13 | 19 |
Hits | 19 | 21 |
Blocked shots | 10 | 22 |
Faceoff win percentage | 56.7% (34 of 60) | 43.3% (26 of 60) |
Giveaways | 12 | 11 |
Takeaways | 6 | 4 |
Goaltending | Hildeby, 19 saves on 22 shots | Pickard, 30 saves on 34 shots |
Thunderstruck 3-Stars of the Game
1st Star – Tampa - Nikita Kucherov, OT game winner
2nd Star – Tampa - Jake Guentzel, 2 goals, and an assist to tie the game
3rd Star – Minnesota -Maxim Shabanov, 2 goals
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