Minnesota Wild @ Tampa Bay Lightning Preview
By Austin Hart
The Tampa Bay Lightning (29-15-1) finally return home to face off against the Minnesota Wild (25-16-4) tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET. FanDuel has the Lightning at a small favorite at -160 with an over/under for the game set at six.
This will be the second and final meeting between these squads this season, with the first game actually taking place earlier this month on January 4th. The Lightning fell 5-1 in Minnesota on the second night of a back-to-back, continuing a long-term struggle to secure a win in Minnesota. Goalie Filip Gustavsson was huge for the Wild, stopping 34 of the Bolts’ 35 shots on the night. On the flip side, Brian Elliott had a tougher time in net after just playing the night before in Chicago, allowing goals to four different Wild skaters. Andrei Vasilevskiy should be back in net for tonight’s clash though, giving Minnesota a vastly different look in net.
The Lightning are coming off of a decent fiv-game road trip in which they ripped off three straight wins before dropping the final two games against Edmonton and Calgary. Turnovers and penalties got the better of the Bolts in Calgary in the most recent game last Saturday. A 6-3 Flames win saw five different Calgary players tally multiple points on the night and the Lightning are hoping to move past this performance in their upcoming three-game home stand to end the month.
Minnesota have continued to fight for a top spot within the Central division, currently one point ahead of the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche. Similar to the Lightning, however, they’ve dropped their previous two games on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers. This will certainly be a battle of two talented teams looking to get back to winning ways. Marc-Andre Fleury should also draw the start in net for Minnesota, additionally giving the Lightning a different goalie look than in the previous matchup.
INJURIES: Lightning forward Pat Maroon left last game with an apparent upper-body injury and did not return. According to Lightning beat writer Chris Krenn, Maroon was not spotted at practice and given this, he may not be expected to play in tonight’s matchup. Krenn also reported via Jon Cooper that D Nick Perbix is a “maybe” for tonight’s game as he was able to practice with the team.
Everyone is here for #Bolts practice except for Pat Maroon, who left the Calgary game in some serious pain and did not return.
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) January 23, 2023
Jon Cooper said the #Bolts will know more on the extent of Pat Maroon’s injury this afternoon and called Nick Perbix a “maybe” for tomorrow night’s game vs. Minnesota.
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) January 23, 2023
No injuries for Minnesota.
Odds (Courtesy of FanDuel): TBL -160 ML/MIN +132 ML, O 6 -122/U 6 +100
Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, NHL PowerPlay, ESPN+
Where to listen: Lightning Radio 24/7, 102.5 MHz-FM
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
January 24, 2023, 7:00 p.m. ET
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