It’s an interconference clash on the ice when a pair of teams on opposite sides of the playoff cut line collide in the Sunshine State. The Minnesota Wild are on the road as they make the trip to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night. Minnesota was beaten 5-3 on the road by Florida in their previous contest Saturday night. Tampa Bay was doubled up 6-3 on the road by Calgary in their previous game Saturday afternoon. In the last 10 meetings between the teams, the Wild own a 7-2-1 advantage, including a 5-1 home victory in the first meeting this season on January 4.
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Minnesota lost their second straight game and their fifth in the last eight games as they were dumped by Florida in their most recent contest. The Wild enter this game 25-16-4 on the season and stand third in the Central Division, nine points behind the Stars and Jets for the top spot. They were one point ahead of the Avalanche to remain in the final guaranteed playoff spot in the division. Minnesota is tied for 17th in goals per game as they average 3.11 goals per contest. The Wild are 12th in goals against as they allow 2.84 goals per contest this season. Minnesota is 11th in power play success by converting 23.9% of their chances with the man advantage. The Wild are 16th in penalty killing as they successfully navigate 79.1% of their shorthanded situations this season.
Against Florida, Minnesota was unable to keep the puck out of their own net and that proved to be their undoing in the contest. The Wild held a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal in the opening period but skated to the dressing room trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. In the second period, Minnesota was outshot 13-10 and outscored 2-1 to trail by a 3-1 margin after 40 minutes of action. After falling behind 2-0, Matt Boldy got the Wild on the board with a power play goal, his 14th of the season, at 8:56 off assists from Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov to make it a 2-1 game. They gave up a goal later in the period to go down a pair once again. In the third period, Minnesota held a 13-8 advantage in shots on goal with each team scoring twice to keep the margin the same as time expired. Eriksson Ek made it 3-2 with a power play goal, his 16th of the season, at 4:37 with assists going to Kaprizov and Calen Addison. After giving up a goal to trail 4-2, Jared Spurgeon made it 4-3 with his eighth goal of the year with assists going to Boldy and Ka prizov. The Wild gave up an empty net goal to seal the game and take the loss. Filip Gustavsson made 22 saves for the Wild, who held a 32-27 edge in shots, in the loss. Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to get the start in goal here.