3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 3-2 Loss to the Lightning

The Minnesota Wild were in the middle of their road trip when they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, Oct. 8, after suffering a rough overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the week. They were without Nick Foligno, who was injured in their game against the Sabres, and right before they started against the Lightning, it was announced they would be without Olli Määttä as well. 

While both games of this road trip had similar outcomes, they started out quite differently: the Wild started out with a lead against the Sabres, but against the Lightning they started behind. The Lightning scored two quick goals in the first, 36 seconds apart, and the Wild found themselves in a 2-0 hole early. 

They bounced back with a goal in the second period, but the Lightning answered right back. The Wild scored the final goal of the game that got them within one, and despite a strong effort in the final minutes, they couldn’t tie the game and fell 3-2. In this article, we’ll take a look at what happened, starting with the slow start. 

Wild’s Slow Start

It’s only the fourth game of the season, so it’s hard to be too critical, but part of the Wild’s issues against the Lightning came because of a very slow and rather sloppy start. They struggled to get their game down, and the Lightning came out very energized and ready to stop everything the Wild put forward. 

They did eventually start playing their game, but by then it was too late, and they couldn’t make it happen. When looking at the stats, the Wild were better in almost every category, but it all came too late. Despite having the better faceoff percentage, more shots, and more hits, they just couldn’t put it together soon enough. 

“I think every game’s, you know I think it’s a different entity, tonight I think right off the bat, just like wall plays and the net fronts and I didn’t think we played fast we just, we weren’t as sharp and to me it’s not even the sharpness, just the intensity level you need to play with right off the start, we didn’t have it, we got ourselves into it and worked it in in the second and obviously in the third but that’s what we talked about after the game and we’ll address moving forward,” said head coach John Hynes to the media in his postgame press conference on Wild.com. 

Wild’s Power Play Produces

Although they lost, their man advantage still found a way to contribute on the scoreboard, and that goal got them back within one goal late in the second period, and the momentum swung in favor of the Wild from that point on. Even though they didn’t tie it up, their power play is making a difference in every game they play, and this time it was Blake Coleman who tallied the goal.

It continues to look strong, and again, although it wasn’t quite enough for them to get a win against the Lightning, it gave them a chance to fight for it. They connected on passes, and they got the puck to the net and out of two chances they scored on one for 50 percent on the man advantage. Their penalty kill took a hit, and that was the game-winning goal for the Lightning, but that wasn’t the only reason they lost. 

Wild’s Second Line Stumped

While Blake Coleman is a member of the Wild’s second line and he scored their second goal of the game, he did so on the power play, which means he had different linemates compared to his normal. The other two members of the second line have found themselves a bit stuck when it comes to any points so far this season. 

Joel Eriksson Ek has a lone assist for one point in the past four games, and Matt Boldy, who’s been one of the Wild’s leading scorers over the past few seasons, hasn’t scored or assisted on a goal just yet. It’s likely that won’t last long, but it would be great for the Wild if both Eriksson Ek and Boldy could get on the scoresheet sooner rather than later. 

“Uh yeah, you want to score; it is what it is, can’t go back in time and change these games, so just try to get ready for the next one, find a way to make a difference,” said Boldy to the media in his postgame interview when asked about the scoring troubles courtesy of Wild.com. 

The Wild have one game left on this road trip to come back with a possible three out of six points. They’ll face the Florida Panthers on Saturday evening, Oct. 10, and it’ll be the first time they see the Tkachuk brothers together, and hopefully they’ll be able to sneak past them and come out with a win.