Bolts Look to Tame the Wild

By Jake Ricker

Overview

The Tampa Bay Lightning (31-11-3) will take on the Minnesota Wild (24-17-5) tonight as the Bolts will start their road trip off right with a win, while the Wild will look to bounce back after a loss against the Canucks. Last time these two team faced off the Bolts shutout the Wild in a 3-0 victory. The Wild will look to even the series while the Bolts will look to get the sweep. Let’s take a look at the game plan for these two teams as they get set to square off.

Tampa’s Outlook and Past

The Bolts looked rusty in their last game after coming off the bye week and will need to change that to get a win tonight. The Bolts have won 3 of their last 5 games but have lost their last 2. The Bolts continue to find success on the power play as they rank 3rd in the NHL. They might have a harder time tonight though, as they go up against the Wild who have the 8th best penalty kill in the NHL (83.2%). They can maintain their lead at the top of the NHL with another win tonight.

Three Keys To The Game

1. New Focus

8 road games in a row and a slump to break. Time to focus and get back to our winning ways.

2. Leadership

The Loss to Vegas leads to a closed-door meeting with Stamkos and others mentioning “leadership” and “passion”. Lets see.

3. Old Times Sake

Coop said the team needs to get back to training camp ways. He shuffled the lines back to the beginning of the season pairings and worked on battles and lots of energy. Hopefully, the message is received by everyone involved.

Projected Lines

Offense 

Namestnikov – Stamkos – Kucherov

Palat – Point – Johnson

Killorn – Gourde – Conacher

Kunitz – Paquette – Callahan

Defense

Koekkoek – Stralman

Sergechev – Girardi

Coburn – Dotchin

Goalies

Andrei Vasilevskiy:  27-8-2   GAA: 2.23   SV%: .929 (Confirmed)

Injuries

Victor Hedman (3-6 Weeks)

 

Minnesota’s Outlook and Past

The Wild have had an average season so far but would like to be in a playoff spot. The Wild have won 2 of their last 5 games and have only scored 2 goals in 4 of those games. The Wild have had a great year in the PK department and will need for that to continue as they face one of the top teams on the power play (24.4%). They can potentially grab a wild-card spot in the standings with a win tonight. The Wild will have one more home game after this before heading out on the road.

Three Keys To The Game

1. Penalty Kill

The Wild need to continue their success on the PK as the Bolts are known for scoring on the PP.

2. Shoot the Puck

The Wild have only scored 2 goals in 4 of their last 5 games they will need to pick up the pace if they want to get a win.

3. Find Staal

Eric Staal is having a fantastic year as he leads the team in goals, points and is third in assists. The Wild need to make sure he’s got the puck when they’re in the offensive zone.

Projected Lines

Offense 

Zucker – Koivu – Granlund

Niederreiter – Staal – Parise

Rau – Coyle – Eriksson EK

Foligno – Cullen – Ennis

Defense

Suter – Spurgeon

Brodin – Dumba

Olofsson – Prosser

Goalies

Devan Dubnyk  17-9-3   GAA: 2.61   SV%: 919 (Confirmed)

 

Please keep in mind that all lines are subject to change prior to game time!