TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Wild are playing the first of two matchups this season and the only meeting at Xcel Energy Center…The two team will meet again in two weeks with a Jan. 18 contest at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts posted a 1-1-0 record vs. MIN last season, dropping the first meeting of the season in a 5-1 loss Jan. 4 at MIN before skating to a 4-2 win on home ice Jan. 24…Nikita Kucherov (1-2—3) led the Lightning in points vs. MIN last season and was tied for the team lead in assists, while Corey Perry (2-0—2) paced Tampa Bay in goals…Kucherov is riding a four-game point streak vs. MIN (3-3—6) and has found the scoresheet in seven of the last nine meetings (6-5—11)… Kucherov has pointed in each of his last three contests at MIN (2-2—4)…Steven Stamkos has picked up points in six of his last nine games vs. MIN (1-5—6) and has found the scoresheet in four of the last five meetings at MIN (0- 4—4)…Brayden Point has scored four goals in five career contests at MIN (4-0—4)…Mikey Eyssimont scored a goal in his only career game at MIN (1-0—1)…In 10 career starts vs. MIN, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 4-4-2 with a .920 save percentage, 2.48 goals against average, one shutout and one assist…Tampa Bay is 0-8-2 in their last 10 games at MIN and 3-6-1 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 11-17-3 with one tie all-time vs. MIN, including a road record of 2-12-2…Stamkos (5-9—14) holds the Lightning franchise records for career points and assists vs. MIN, while Kucherov (8-5—13) leads the way in goals.
INJURIES
PLAYER INJURY STATUS GAMES MISSED
Erik Cernak Upper-Body Day-to-Day 1
Haydn Fleury Upper-Body Week-to-Week 1
Mikhail Sergachev Upper-Body Day-to-Day 6
2023-24 Total Man Games Lost: 62
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER MOVE
January 1, 2024 Philippe Myers Recalled from AHL Syracuse
January 1, 2024 Sean Day Re-assigned to AHL Syracuse
MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
All-Time Wild Record: 20-8-4 (14-2-0 at Xcel Energy Center, 6-6-4 at Tampa Bay)
2022-23: Minnesota went 1-1-0 against Tampa Bay…The Wild beat Tampa Bay, 5-1, in the series debut at Xcel Energy Center (1/4) and fell 4-2 in the second game at Amalie Arena (1/24)…D Calen Addison (1-2=3), C Joel Eriksson Ek (2-1=3), LW Kirill Kaprizov (3-0=3) and LW Matt Boldy (0-3=3) all had three points…G Filip Gustavsson was 1-0-0 with a 1.04 GAA and a .971 SV%…G Marc-Andre Fleury was 0-1-0 with a 3.01 GAA and a .921 SV% in two games (one start)…RW Nikita Kucherov led Tampa Bay with three points (1-2=3)…RW Corey Perry scored twice for Tampa…C Brayden Point (1-0=1) and C Steven Stamkos also scored…G Brian Elliott was 0-1- 0 with a 4.08 GAA and a .875 SV% in his lone start…G Andrei Vasilevsky was 1-0-0 with a 2.01 GAA and a .943 SV%.
WILD LEADERS: LW Marcus Johansson leads Minnesota with 22 points (8- 14=22) in 39 games against Tampa Bay…D Alex Goligoski has 19 points (3-16=19) in 24 games against the Lightning…RW Mats Zuccarello has 14 points (6-8=14) in 24 matches…LW Marcus Foligno owns 13 points (8-5=13) in 28 games.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 21-15-4 with a 2.68 GAA, a .902 SV% and two shutouts in 44 career games (41 starts) against Tampa Bay…Gustavsson is 1-0-0 with a 1.04 GAA and a .971 SV% in one career game against Tampa.
LIGHTNING LEADERS: Stamkos leads Tampa Bay with 14 points (5-9=14) in 21 matches against Minnesota…Kucherov owns 13 points (8-5=13) in 15 games…RW Josh Archibald (4-3=7, in 11 games) and D Mikhail Sergachev (1-6=7, in 10 games) have seven points each.
LIGHTNING GOALIES: Vasilevskiy is 4-4-2 with a 2.48 GAA, a .920 SV% and one shutout in 10 career starts vs. Minnesota…G Jonas Johansson made one relief appearance against Minnesota (4/7/21).
FAST FACTS: Minnesota has earned points in 13 of its last 17 games against Tampa Bay (11-4-2)…The Wild is on a 10-game win streak in Saint Paul, its longest active win streak on home ice (since 11/28/11)…Minnesota earned its first-ever franchise win, 6-5, against Tampa Bay at Xcel Energy Center (10/18/00).
INJURIES
Jonas Brodin: upper body
Marcus Foligno: lower body
Filip Gustavsson: lower body
Kirill Kaprizov: upper body
Vinni Lettieri: lower body
Mats Zuccarello: upper body
2023-24 Total Man Games Lost: 83
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
1/3/24 Placed LW Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) on injured reserve
1/2/24 Recalled F Sammy Walker and placed F Vinni Lettieri on Injured Reserve
1/1/24 Placed G Filip Gustavsson (lower body) on injured reserve
ON A ROLL AGAIN
• Minnesota is 11-6-0 since Nov. 28 and is T-2nd in the NHL in wins and T-4th points (22) during that span. • The Wild’s plus-13 goal differential since Nov. 28 is fifth in the NHL. • Since Nov. 28, the Wild is third in the NHL with a 2.29 GAA and T-3rd a .923 team save percentage.
STARTING HOT
• In 17 games played since Nov. 28, Minnesota is 10-1-0 when scoring a game’s first goal, the most such wins in the NHL during that span. • Since Nov. 28, Minnesota is eighth the NHL with a plus-5 first-period goal differential, T-9th with 17 first-period goals scored and T-8th with a plus-13 first-period shot differential. • Since Nov. 28 the Wild has allowed 0.71 first-period goals per game, seventh in the NHL.
HOME SWEET HOME
• Minnesota posted a seven-game home winning streak from 11/28 to 12/27, marking the seventh time in franchise history the Wild has recorded a seven-game win streak at Xcel Energy Center. • Since Nov. 28, Minnesota is T-3rd in the NHL with seven home victories, fifth with a 2.11 home GAA, sixth with a .927 home SV% and eighth with a plus-7 home goal differential.
