Can the Tampa Bay Lightning fix their road woes against the Minnesota Wild?

The Tampa Bay Lightning enter tonight's match up against the Minnesota Wild outside the playoff picture. The Lightning are 18-16-5 and have 41 points through 39 games to leave them one point behind New Jersey for the final wild card spot.

While the Lightning have been okay at home, their 7-11-2 record on the road is a big part of why they are lagging behind in the standings.

And the bad news for Tampa is that they are playing in a building tonight they have seldom had success in.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Wild Thing

The Lightning have played in the Xcel Energy Center 16 times since the building opened in 2001. They have won twice.

Twice.

The Lightning have won three Stanley Cups and appeared in two more during a time frame where they are 2-14-2 all time on the road against the Wild.

The Lightning have not won on the road against Minnesota since a 3-1 win in 2011.

Who To Watch On Minnesota

The Wild themselves are treding water on the season. At 16-16-4, Minnesota has 36 points through 36 games and is four points out of a playoff spot in the west.

Leading the way for the Wild has been Kirill Kaprizov, with 34 points. But he just got placed on injured reserve after taking a cross check against the Jets.

Likewise Mats Zuccarello is second on the team in points, but he too has been out since mid-December with an upper body injury.

That leaves Joel Eriksson EK to lead the way, with 15 goals on the season and 25 points total.

Pat Maroon is still trucking along for the Wild, with 14 points on the season and a goal in their last game against Calgary.

Vegas Says...

Probably because of the injury concerns with Minnesota, but the Lightning are considered -130 favorites to win in the Twin Cities for just the third time ever. The Wild are +110 underdogs.

Vegas sees a lower scoring game, with the over/under set at just six goal rather than the standard 6.5.