Game Recap: Minnesota Wild Dominate Tampa Bay Lightning, Win 7-2

The Minnesota Wild are finally in a regular schedule and it shows. In front of a fantastic home crowd, The Wild posted 4 goals in the first frame and would go on to dominate Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning 7-2.

What a phenomenal game. The Tampa Bay Lightning, fresh off a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, were thoroughly trounced.  14 of the Wild’s 18 skaters were +1 or better; while 17 of the Lightning’s 18 skaters were -1 or worse. Despite failing (again) to score on the power play, the Wild put up 6 even-strength goals and 1 shorthanded tally en route to a 7-2 victory. Here are my thoughts on the game:

First Period:

Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu, Charlie Coyle, Marco Scandella, and Jared Spurgeon opened for the Wild; taking on Brian Boyle, Steven Stamkos, Brenden Morrow, Anton Stralman, and Matthew Carle. Evgeni Nabokov started in net for the Bolts, as stud keeper Ben Bishop started in Winnipeg on Friday. Nabokov is 3rd among NHL goaltenders in wins over the Wild with 16, but he’s also one of the oldest NHL goalies at 39. More on that in a bit.

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The game started out painfully slow. The Wild held the lone shot on goal through the first seven minutes, although I feel like Tampa Bay started with better zone pressure. Ryan Carter placed a huge hit on Tampa defender Anton Stralman that drew a roar from the crowd.

Jason Pominville nailed the crossbar 7 minutes in. I sit behind that goal and I was sure it went in. Before I could get a good look at the replay on the mega scoreboard, Scandella took a short pass from Pominville, motored down the right wing and slides the puck through Nabokov’s 5-hole. First goal of the season for Scandella. 1-0 Wild at 07:37.  Pominville and Zach Parise earned the assists.

Before I could finish my notes on the first goal, Koivu broke his 5 game pointless streak. A turnover by Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr landed on Vanek’s stick. Vanek dropped off for Koivu below the right face-off dot; from there, the Captain waited, dangled, and wristed home a very odd angle shot that beat Nabokov between his elbow and the goalpost. 2-0 Wild at 08:16. Just the third shot on goal for the Wild. Two goals 37 seconds apart were enough to send the crowd in to a roar. Great play by Vanek, too.

Parise then came very, very close to a tap in goal, but Nabokov stopped him and moved the puck over to his defenders. Nabokov would allow 2 goals on four shots through the first 10-ish minutes.

Darcy Kuemper, who I imagine was bored through most of the opening frame allowed a goal on the first shot he faced. Stralman, alone in front of the net thanks to idle Wild defenders, picked up a pass from Nikita Kucherov and deked around Kuemper. Kuemper made an odd move to his right side which brought his pad up off the ice long enough for Stralman to tuck it home under the Kuemperor’s right leg. 2-1 Wild at 11:04. 

Like that, the Wild’s lead is cut in half. I really liked Stralman’s game tonight. He’s a great addition to an already stacked Tampa Bay Lightning squad. He’s also the only skater with the Lightning to leave this game a +1. The Wild would recover, but it certainly deflated the home crowd, as the Wild had yet to win a game where their opponent scored.

Gigantic Tampa Bay forward Brian Boyle knocked Carter to the ice, causing Carter to break a skate and carom awkwardly in to the boards. Scandella took some measure of offense to this and dropped gloves with Boyle. Boyle is 6′ 7″ and 244 pounds, towering over 6′ 3″ Scandella. What followed was more of a grappling match than a fight. Both took 5-minute majors for fighting.

Boyle is 6′ 7″ and 244 pounds, towering over 6′ 3″ Scandella

Now, the top two lines for Minnesota scored just 37 seconds apart. Not to be outdone, the third line chipped in with a tally of their own. Erik Haula (the only Wild player to carry a -1 rating out of the game) dropped the puck off in to the offensive zone. Nino Niederreiter snagged the puck off the boards behind Nabokov and put a beauty of a pass past the goalpost on Nabokov’s right which landed on Haula’s stick. Haula skated past his defenders and potted home his first goal of the regular season high past Nabokov’s glove.

I’m positive that goal light is gonna burn out soon as the Wild’s 4th line decided to add a goal of their own in the waning minutes of the opening frame. Jason Zucker spun away from Eric Brewer near the wall, turned and fired toward Nabokov who let the puck slip right by his glove. Nabokov seemed utterly unprepared for the odd angle shot. 3-1 Wild at 17:15. Ryan Carter and Matt Cooke earned the assists.

With that, Nabokov was chased from the goal after allowing 4 goals on just 8 shots in 17 minutes. I’m surprised they didn’t let him ride out the period to give Bishop a little more time to warm up. Tough night for Nabokov means great night for Minnesota Wild fans, though. Nothing else to report for the first, the Wild retire to the locker room with a 4-1 lead.

Shots through one period: Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Minnesota Wild 8

Second Period:

A quiet opening few minutes, save for a wild icing, woke up early with a goal by Zach Parise. Collecting his own rebound from a weak shot, Parise tapped home his second try, sliding the puck through Bishop’s pads. 5-1 Wild at 02:11

Vladsilav Namestnikov took an elbow to the head while checking Jonas Brodin in the 9th minute. It was unintentional contact by Brodin on a clean hit by Namestnikov. He’d lay on the ice holding his face for about 10 seconds until play could stop. He returned to the game later. Glad he’s okay, as he’s a good young player for the Bolts.

Thomas Vanek seemed to wake up today. Recovering from a thumb injury hasn’t slowed him down at all. Despite not having a shot on goal, he earned the primary assist on Scandella’s opening goal and then completely created a goal by Spurgeon midway through the second. Vanek and Spurgeon entered the zone as a 2-on-1. Vanek put on the breaks, dangled, and passed to Spurgeon who had a wide open net to shoot at with Bishop still locked on Vanek. There was a roar of “SHOOT” from the Xcel energy crowd, but that’s what Vanek brings. He’s got play-making abilities like you wouldn’t believe. 6-1 Wild at 11:12. Coyle got the second assist.

Next: Darcy Kuemper's Tremendous Start

At this point, the Wild were converting shot attempts at 50% efficiency. 6 Goals on 12 shots is absolutely insane.

Stamkos got his first shot on goal at 11:51 of the second. 31 minutes for one of the best players in the league to register a shot. Not bad, eh Wild fans?

Kucherov got his first goal of the season for Tampa Bay by deflecting a Stralman blast from the point. It was a really nice tip-in that beat Kuemper cleanly. 6-2 Wild at 16:50.

Haula would earn the game’s first penalty call at 18:34 for holding Tyler Johnson at the goal crease. Maybe the Wild were just tired, but they were unable to clear the puck past the center line until time expired in the second.

Shots through two periods: Tampa Bay Lightning 13, Minnesota Wild 14.

Third Period:

34 seconds of PP time for the Lightning to open the final frame. Cooke took a high sticking penalty just 4 seconds in to the frame, giving the Bolts a 5-on-3 advantage for 30 seconds. By the way, the Wild’s video guy is awesome; playing a scene from “The Three Amigos” as the penalty was announced.

I really can’t stress how good the Wild PK has been, Killing off both the 5-on-3 for 30 seconds and the ensuing one minute, thirty seconds of power play time. Kuemper has not allowed a PP goal yet this season and the PK is 17 for 18 on the season (94.4%) The one power play goal allowed was fluky.

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Boyle would give the Wild their only power play of the night, charging in to Niederreiter in the 4th minute. The Wild’s 20th power play of the season was no different than the last 19. Only one shot made it through to Bishop, a blast by Mathew Dumba from the high slot that caught Bishop squarely in the center of his jersey. Wild now 0/20 with the man advantage this season.

Zucker got his second goal of the night mid-way through the third. Playing shorthanded thanks to a Nate Prosser tripping penalty; Zucker grabbed a Marco Scandella clearing attempt in the neutral zone, turned on the jets, and roofed a backhanded shot past Bishop’s glove. That kid is using every opportunity he gets with the Wild. 7-2 Wild at 13:44

This would do it for most of the crowd, but not this writer. Ryan Carter took a flagrant tripping penalty at 17:47. Not a single one of the 18,000 extra referees at the X booed. No shots on the PP for the Bolts though. Game over, Wild win 7-2. 

Final Shots: Tampa Bay Lightning 19, Minnesota Wild 22.

Trembley’s Take:

What a win for the Wild, who now move to 4-2-0 on the season. I don’t think I can stress enough that this isn’t what anybody expected from this game. This is a Tampa Bay Lightning squad on it’s last day of a 10-day, 5 game road trip. They had also just played in Winnipeg. Expect a very different squad when the Wild visit Amalie Arena November 22nd. Stamkos was held to just two shots and I had to ask the guy next to me if Jonathan Drouin was playing. He was, apparently. This is also a team without Victor Hedman, Ryan Callahan, or Alex Killorn; who are all down with injury. Tampa Bay is a legitimate cup contender, I’d expect them to play like one the next time they meet the Wild.

The Wild were completely out-chanced in the 3rd frame, giving up 51 total shot attempts (includes blocked shots and missed shots) through 60 minutes. The Wild had just 37 shot attempts. 17 of the Lightnings shot attempts came in the final period.

Drouin and linemate Cedric Paquette had Corsi for percentages of 73 and 78 respectively, leading the Lightning. Mikael Granlund was top of the wild with a 73% Corsi for. Parsie came in next at 68%. Poor goaltending by a gassed Lightning squad was the difference maker here. The penalty kill by the Wild also allowed zero shots on goal to a team that ranks 9th in the league with a 23.5% conversion rate. The Wild are still tied for last with the Buffalo Sabres. Luckily, the Sabres have had WAY more chances on the power play.

Kuemper had an okay game, escaping with a .905 save percentage and 2.00 GAA, bringing his season GAA to around 0.8, which is fantastic. I imagine his GSAA goes up a bit.

Zucker now stands alone at the top of the Wild heap with 4 goals scored. Parise has 3. Parise leads in points with 7. If I’m Mike Yeo (I’m not,) I’d give Zucker a close look on the 3rd line at LW, move Nino Niederreiter to his natural RW, and move Fontaine to the 4th line. If it doesn’t work, no problem. I’m also going to start referring to the Zucker line as “Zucker’s Cookie Cart.” During his post-game interview, he consistently called Matt Cooke “Cookie” and Ryan Carter “Carts.” Take that, “that 70s line.”

Marco Scandella was the NHL’s first star of the game with one goal, one assist, and one fight. That’s a Gordy Howe hat trick. I did not throw my hat, though. I learned my lesson last time. Side note; Can we get rid of the orange hat giveaway? It’s incredibly distracting.

The Wild take on the New York Rangers come Monday. I think Kuemper probably gets the nod to start there. Keith Ballard and Christian Folin will not be with the team for the two game road trip as they recover from some kind of bacterial infection that has caused their jaws to swell. The same ailment recently struck the St. Louis Blues, so the Wild are taking due precautions.

Don’t forget to check back with GPW on Monday for a full game recap.