Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 2
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 20, 2018
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees:
Tom Kowal, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen:
Brandon Gawryletz, Travis Gawryletz
Attendance:
19007
By Field Level Media
The Minnesota Wild got goals from Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise, Nate Prosser, Jason Zucker and Marcus Foligno to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Saturday. It was the third consecutive loss for Tampa Bay and the first game of a season-long eight-game road trip.
Brayden Point scored twice for the Lightning (31-12-3) who are in the midst of their season-worst losing streak. They got 30 saves from goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. For Minnesota (25-17-5) goalie Devan Dubnyk had 21 saves as the Wild earned at least a point at home for the eighth consecutive game.
Spurgeon opened the scoring for Minnesota, which had been off since last Sunday, with a blast from the blue line just seconds into the Wild's first power play of the game. It was the sixth goal for Spurgeon, which is second among Wild defensemen.
Parise made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season. He was playing in just his eighth game, having missed the first half of the season after having back surgery in the spring. Another Wild defenseman, Prosser, made it 3-0 in the second before Point got the Lightning on the board with a wrist shot through traffic that deflected off Dubnyk's blocker and into the net.
Foligno's goal early in the third period re-established a three-goal lead for the Wild before Point scored on a 5-on-3 power play for the Lightning. Zucker scored an empty net goal in the final minute.
The game marked the Wild debut for left winger Kyle Rau, who signed as a free agent with Minnesota over the summer. Rau won Minnesota's Mr. Hockey Award as a high school senior and was a University of Minnesota star before making his way back to his home state. His older brother, Chad, skated in nine games with Minnesota in the 2011-12 season, making the Raus the first brothers to play for the Wild.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Tampa Bay |
|
Minnesota |
Brayden Point 2 |
Points |
Eric Staal 2 |
Brayden Point 2 |
Goals |
Marcus Foligno 1 |
Tyler Johnson 2 |
Assists |
Eric Staal 2 |
Brayden Point 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Jared Spurgeon 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Andrei Vasilevskiy .882 |
Save Percentage |
Devan Dubnyk .913 |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 30 |
Saves |
Devan Dubnyk 21 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Tampa Bay
|
23 |
2 |
1-4 |
2-3 |
8 |
25 |
Minnesota
|
35 |
5 |
1-3 |
3-4 |
10 |
30 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Wild have a W/L % of .480 after a win and .591 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Lightning have a W/L % of .656 after a win and .714 after a loss.