Eight days ago, the Minnesota Wild played the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. The Wild beat the Lightning ranther handily by a score of 4-2. Minnesota is coming off a seven game road trip that saw them go 5-1-1. Like the Lightning, the Wild have 14 points and are tied for 3rd place in the Western Conference. Two of the better teams in the league face off for the second time in this young season. The Lightning are looking to avenge the earlier loss to the Wild but must be ready from opening puck drop.
There is no shortage of star power in tonight’s game. For the visitors from Tampa, those include Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy. For the home team, Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello among others lead the Wild. Tonight is the second of two games between these two for the season. After the loss to Minnesota last week, the Lightning have reeled off three wins in a row.
Opening Round
Future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury got the night off tonight. Filip Gustavsson is between the pipes for Minnesota. As usual, Vasilevskiy is in net for Tampa. The first five minutes of the game set the tone. Both teams made it difficult to enter their respective zones. Even if either team got the puck in the offensive zone, they didn’t stay there long. Just past the three minute mark of the period, the gloves came off between two combatants.
Mikey Eyssimont for the Lightning faced Jakub Lauko of the Wild to a draw. Both players got in a couple good punches but there was no clear winner. About halfway through the period, the Wild gave the Lightning the game’s first power play. It didn’t matter as the extra man didn’t seem to help the visitors at all. The game remained a scoreless tie.
The ice was tilted slightly in the Lightning’s favor. With six minutes remaining in the opening period, they enjoyed a 12-2 shot advantage. As the period was ending, the Wild were caught with too many men on the ice. In the ensuing power play, the Lightning scored the game’s first goal. Hedman blasted a shot from the point that Gustavsson saved but didn’t control the rebound. Point jumped on the puck and lifted above a prone Gustavsson to give Tampa a 1-0 lead.
Dave Mishkin calls Brayden Point’s goal pic.twitter.com/baJy9bORfo
— Bucs Rays Bolts (@BucsRaysBoltsYT) November 2, 2024
No Way to Avenge Loss to Minnesota
No sooner had the puck dropped in the middle period that the Wild evened the score. A whole 47 seconds into the second, the home team tied the game at one. Joel Eriksson-Ek lit the lamp past Vasilevskiy after taking a pass from Kaprizov. Brand new game tied 1-1.
After that goal, the Wild had a little jump to their steps. They were leveling the ice their way. In a span of five minutes, the Lightning committed two penalties giving their beleaguered penalty killers a huge challenge. Coming into tonight, the Lightning penalty kill was 26th in the league. They didn’t play like this as the Wild poured it on with the extra man.
Like two boxers, these two teams went at it. Each team worked hard to get in a good shot. Both teams withstood whatever onslaught the other brought. The defense for both was blocking shots as if it was the playoffs. For the Wild, it was about playing well in front of their fans for the first time in two weeks. The Lightning had their own reason. Tampa wanted to avenge the loss to Minnesota last week. After two periods, the score was tied at one. The Lightning had a 22-12 shot advantage. Minnesota had blocked 14 shots and both goalies were playing well. Definitely had the feel of a one goal game.
Mistake Free Play Needed to Avenge Loss
In games like these the victors tend to be the team that makes the fewest mistakes. When you’re in this type of game, you are on your toes. When it feels like the next goal could be the game winner, you want to avoid that on defense. On offense, you want to press the defenders to make that mistake.
A couple minutes into the final regulation period, the Wild broke the tie. Brock Faber slapped the puck from the high slot past Vasilevskiy to make the score 2-1 in favor of Minnesota. Less than five minutes later, the visitors had an answer. On the power play, the Lightning tied the game at two on a goal by Jake Guentzel. Hedman fed him the puck as he closed in on Gustavsson. Guentzel wristed the puck past the Wild goalie and we had a whole new ball game.
Jake Guentzel’s strong start in Tampa continues with a power play goal, tying it up at 2!#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/nB5xlj5x21
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 2, 2024
With a little over five minutes remaining, the Wild got a fluky goal. Zuccarello blasted a shot from the high point and Vasilevskiy saved that shot. The puck trickled behind the side of the net and was sent toward Vasilevskiy. Kaprizov deflected the bouncing puck to make it 3-2 Wild.
Wild Last Minutes
With just a bit more than three minutes left in the game, Coach Jon Cooper pulled his goalie. It didn’t work. Matt Boldy intercepted a pass around the center line and scored an empty netter to make it 4-2 Wild. The Lightning won the face off and pulled Vasilevskiy again. This time it worked as Nick Paul scored to bring the Lightning within one at 4-3.
Nick Paul tucks home the loose puck in tight to quickly bring Tampa within 1 late!#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/xcSI5591n6
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 2, 2024
In the last three minutes of this game we saw more goals than the first two periods. After Paul’s goal, there were still two and a half minutes left in regulation. Again, Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy and again it didn’t work. Kaprizov scored another empty netter for the final score of 5-3
Three Stars
- Kirill Kaprizov – 2 goals and an assist.
- Mats Zuccarello – 2 assists
- Filip Gustavsson – Saved 27 of 30 shots for a 90% save percentage.
What’s Next
Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg. Facing the Jets who are the number one team in the NHL. Puck drops at 3:00 pm.
