Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning: GAME #46
Time: 7:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, BSN, BSWI, Hulu, ESPN+
Opponent SBNation Site: Hockey Wilderness
DraftKings Odds: Lightning -1.5 O/U 6.5
Preview:
So, the good news. It looks like there is a chance that Nick Perbix will return to the line-up against his hometown Minnesota Wild. The rookie hasn’t been in the line-up since the Bolts were in St. Louis last week (and he had put up 4 points in 2 games) as he’s been dealing with an unidentified upper-body injury. Coach Jon Cooper listed him as a “maybe” following the team’s practice on Monday.
The not-so-good news. Veteran Pat Maroon is, as of that very same practice, an unknown quantity. The Big Rig is also dealing with an upper-body injury after he was the meat in a Calgary hit sandwich and then fell awkwardly to the ice in their last game.
The return of Perbix would allow Coach Cooper to realign his defensive core to their optimal pairings as we saw during the Lightning’s nice long winning streak. However, if Maroon can’t go, the coaching staff may deploy an 11/7 rotation with either Cal Foote or Haydn Fleury rotating in as the extra defenseman. There is also the chance that Rudy Balcers is recalled from his conditioning assignment in Syracuse in time for the game and he plays for the first time since November 25th (also against St. Louis – what is it with players getting hurt against the Blues).
No matter who is in the line-up for the Bolts, they are going to need their best players to be at their best if they are going to end their two-game losing streak. While the Lightning’s depth has long been their trademark, they do need their big guns to play up to their ability in order to compete and beat times at the upper echelon of the standings. It’s not going to be easy with the Wild (7th in the Western Conference), Boston Bruins (1st in the NHL), and Los Angeles Kings (5th in the Western Conference) in town on this homestand.
It’s hard to criticize the top line for Tampa Bay after the season they’ve put together, but they were noticeably absent in the loss to Calgary and at times against Edmonton as well. They are the engine for the Lightning and against a Minnesota team that allows less than 3 goals per game, it would be nice to see them get back into their scoring rhythm.
The last time these two teams met back at the beginning of the month, it was a pretty thorough victory for the Wild as they skated to a 5-1 victory on their home ice. That was also the game Brian Elliott played on back-to-back nights for the first time in a long time due to Andrei Vasilevskiy’s illness. In all likelihood, the Big Cat will be in net tonight and try, for the third time, to pick up his 250th win. It’s been awhile since he’s dropped three regulation losses in a row, the last time being March 19th-24th, 2022. So expect a determined netminder for the Lightning.
Minnesota comes in on a two-game losing streak as well having lost 5-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes and 5-3 to the Florida Panthers. They kicked off their annual Dad’s trip with a 4-2 win in Washington, but their usually stout defense has let them down over the last two games. Defenseman Matthew Dumba, who has been a healthy scratch recently, is scheduled to return to the line-up. While the Wild insist his recent stint in the press box isn’t trade related, at this time of year it is always a possibility. Another defensive asset, forward Marcus Foligno is a game-time decision as he battled back from an illness.
If the Lightning can get back to playing their style of hockey – aggressive, fast, and precise they can run their home-winning streak to ten. However, they will need their best players to step forward in order to do so.
Also, looks who is back in the building!
It’s great to be back pic.twitter.com/4bMZfOCxgY
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) January 23, 2023
Comparison chart:
Minnesota at Tampa Bay Game 2 Comparison
| Game #46 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Minnesota Wild |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 29-15-1 | 25-16-4 |
| Home Record | 17-4-1 | 13-8-1 |
| Road Record | 12-11 | 12-8-3 |
| Goals For | 163 | 143 |
| Goals Against | 135 | 130 |
| xGF | 154.86 | 142.35 |
| xGA | 144.45 | 129.02 |
| PP% | 27.1% | 23.9% |
| PK% | 80.5% | 79.1% |
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forward Lines
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos – Alex Killorn
Ross Colton – Nick Paul – Pat Maroon (?)
Vlad Namestnikov – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry
Defense Pairings
Victor Hedman – Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev – Nick Perbix
Ian Cole – Erik Cernak
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Minnesota Wild Potential Lines
Forward Lines
Kirill Kaprizov — Sam Steel — Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway — Joel Eriksson Ek — Brandon Duhaime
Ryan Hartman — Frederick Gaudreau — Matt Boldy
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defense Pairings
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill — Calen Addison
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
