WILD GAMEDAY
vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Xcel Energy Center, 7 p.m. Thursday
TV; radio: BSN; 100.3 FM
Stats and analytics: Tap here.
Pregame reading:
Sarah McLellan's preview:
Opening bell: The Wild have dropped three in a row, their longest losing streak under coach John Hynes, and their schedule is going to test them. This is the first of two games this month vs. Tampa Bay, and the Wild (16-16-4) will soon face Central Division rivals Dallas (twice) and Arizona. The Lightning (18-16-5) arrived in St. Paul from Winnipeg where they lost 4-2 to the Jets on Tuesday night.
Watch him: Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL with a whopping 63 points in 38 games. That's an impressive 1.66 points-per-game clip, which is also tops in the league. Kucherov has been held pointless only once in his last nine games. He had a goal and assist vs. Winnipeg and boasts 13 points in 15 career games against the Wild.
Injuries: Wild D Jonas Brodin (upper body), LW Marcus Foligno (lower body), G Filip Gustavsson (lower body), LW Kirill Kaprizov (upper body), RW Vinni Lettieri (lower body), D Jared Spurgeon (lower body) and RW Mats Zuccarello (upper body). Lightning D Erik Cernak (upper body), D Haydn Fleury (upper body) and Mikhail Sergachev (lower body).
Forecast: The Wild have won their last 10 home games against the Lightning, but to keep that streak going, they'll have to end a different one. They've played well in spurts during this losing skid but have struggled to deliver a start-to-finish effort. If they can set the tone early vs. Tampa Bay, that should give them their best chance at success; since Hynes took over, the Wild are 8-1 when leading after the first period.
