A blueline patched together more than a hobo’s coat not only held the Minnesota Wild to just 4 high-danger chances and one goal, but also provided three of the four goals the Tampa Bay Lightning needed for their 4-1 victory. Darren Raddysh found the back of the net twice while Victor Hedman smashed home a power play goal. Brandon Hagel had an empty net goal at the end of the game while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23. It was the Lightning’s first victory in Minnesota since 2011.
Called up earlier in the day, rookie Declan Carlile made his NHL debut and skated 11:27.
The Lines
There wasn’t much action either way in the first period as both teams struggled to maintain possession of the puck and failed to generate much in the way of dangerous chances. The Lightning were content to keep things simple in their own zone and push the Wild to the perimeter while making sure to clear the puck out of their zone.
There were a couple of turnovers, but players did well to cover for each other. Neither goaltender was especially busy in the opening frame as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 7 shots while Andrei Vasilevskiy only had to make 6, his biggest coming on Joel Erikson Ek who had slashed through the slot for a redirection.
In the second period, a period that has been an absolute nightmare on the road for the Bolts, they were able to take advantage of some shoddy coverage by the Wild in their own zone to grab the lead. Darren Raddysh had yet to score this season, but that would change when he cycled down low to get in front of Fleury. He wasn’t able to tip Luke Glendening’s shot from the point, but he was there to back hand the rebound home.
Darren Raddysh (Luke Glendening) 1-0 Lightning
He like that so much that 2:29 later, he went into Cale Makar mode and drove in from his point position. Rather than shoot, he dragged the puck behind the net and stuffed a wraparound in the near post before Fleury could readjust.
Darren Raddysh (Conor Sheary, Tyler Motte) 2-0 Lightning
The thrown-together defense had it’s share of moments, but considering the changes they’ve gone through in the last month, they held their coverage pretty well. There was some tentativeness to Declan Carlile’s game early in the first period, but he gained confidence as the game went on and settled into playing his game.
He made a really nice play after losing his stick defending a rush by Marco Rossi. Instead of wrapping up the young forward, he just pushed him to the ice. He then moved into the front of the net and kicked aside a shot attempt. Eventually he gathered up his stick and was able to clear the puck out.
After struggling in their first two power plays, the Lightning got their act together in the third period as Victor Hedman buried a shot from between the circle to build the lead to 3-0.
Victor Hedman (Nikita Kucherov, Nick Paul) Power Play, 3-0 Lightning
With the lead firmly in-hand against a depleted Wild offense, the Lightning kept doing what they needed to do, keep the play outside of the circles, clear the puck, and stay out of the penalty box. Outside of a first period penalty by Brandon Hagel in the offensive zone and a fighting major for for Austin Watson against Pat Maroon, the Lightning stayed out of the box. That allowed Coach Cooper to keep his lines and pairing rolling.
Minnesota did get on the board as old friend Zach Bogosian beat Vasilevskiy with a nice hard shot for his first goal as a member of the Wild.
Zach Bogosian (Alex Goligoski, Ryan Hartman) 3-1 Lightning
Brandon Hagel snapped a goalless streak that stretched back into November as he buried an empty-netter to seal the game with a few minutes left in the game. Tampa Bay will wrap up this road trip on Saturday in Boston.
