Gone Puck Wild
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Minnesota Wild host Tampa Bay Lightning after a big win

By Andrew Lennox

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 19: Minnesota Wild Left Wing Jason Zucker (16) moves the puck during the game between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild on October 19, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 19: Minnesota Wild Left Wing Jason Zucker (16) moves the puck during the game between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild on October 19, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Coming off a huge come from behind win in Dallas, the Minnesota Wild look to win three in a row as they play the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in St. Paul.

The Minnesota Wild have to be happy with a 3-1 come-from-behind road win against the Dallas Stars. A lot of positives came out of this win; Devan Dubnyk continues to shine for the Wild as he made 33 saves on 34 shots, whilst Ryan Suter also had a huge night.

With an assist and a game-winning goal, Suter has now reached the 500 point milestone making him the 11th U.S. born defenseman to reach this milestone, suggesting a decline isn’t quite the case.

Zach Parise had a two-point night as well, with an assist and an empty net goal late in the third period. He continues to be a bright spot up front for the Wild with 2 goals and 7 assists in 7 games played.

Being on the back-end of back-to-back games, the Minnesota Wild will need an all-out team effort tonight against Stanley Cup favorites, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter have combined for 3 points in 7 games, these two need to step it up or they could see themselves in coach Boudreau’s doghouse soon.

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Per Phil Ervin at NHL.com, Wild backup Alex Stalock will be expected to get the nod tonight.

Finally, some good news coming from Iowa; center, Luke Kunin scored his first goal of the year against the Texas Stars last night in Austin. Minnesota Wild’s first round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft now has 2 points in two games this year with Iowa.

Opponent: Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay has had a successful start to the season; they had their first five games at home at Amalie Arena with a record 4-1-0. The Lightning are coming off a 3-1 victory at home against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Surprisingly, Steven Stamkos scored just his first goal of the season.

The Bolts penalty kill is flawless going 23-23 on penalty kills this season.

Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning hope they can stick to their winning ways as they start a five-game road trip tonight in St. Paul. This road trip will be an early season test having to play two back-to-backs in a weeks time. The tour will include stops in Minnesota, Chicago, Colorado, Vegas and next Saturday, in Arizona.

The Rundown

Puck Drop: 7:08 p.m. Central time

Radio: KFAN FM and affiliates
Watch: Fox Sports North; Fox Sports app
All-Time Record vs. Lightning: 14-7-1 (10-2-0 at Excel Energy Center, 4-5-3 at Tampa Bay)
17-18: Regular season series was split at 1-1-0

Team Series Leaders:

Minnesota Wild: Eric Staal has 72 points (33-39=72) in 71 games against the Lightning in his career.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan McDonagh has 12 points (3-9=12) in 10 games vs. the Wild

Wild Goalies vs Lightning: Dubynk 3-2-1 with a 1.91 GAA, a .928 SV% and one shutout; Stalock is 0-2-0 with a 3.06 GAA, and a .880 SV%
Lightning Goalies vs. Wild: Vasilevskiy is 3-1-1 with a 1.56 GAA, a .950 SV% and one shutout; Louis Domingue is 1-1-0 with a 2.44 GAA and a .917 SV% in two starts.

Injuries:

Minnesota Wild: Joel Eriksson Ek– lower body; Matt Hendricks– lower body injury
Tampa Bay Lightning: None

With this being a back-to-back situation, the Minnesota Wild will need to come out of the gates flying. Otherwise, they could fall victim to a very potent offense.

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