Minnesota Wild plays host to Tampa Bay Lightning in the second and final game between them
Minnesota Wild will play host to Tampa Bay Lightning in another game on Friday which will be played at the Excel Energy Center. This will be the second and final game between the two teams during the course of the season.
The first game between the two teams was played last year on the 14th of November, 2010, that saw Wild winning the game by 4-1.
John Madden was the star of the game as he scored the winning goal.
Tampa Bay Lightning is fighting for playing on home ice once the playoffs begin. It is fifth in the Eastern Conference and if it wants to fulfill the hopes of playing on home ice then it needs to step up its pace.
In the last game against Pittsburgh Penguins, Lightning came up with an impressive 2-1 win.
Lightning will have a good preparation for the playoffs as it faces Hawks after this game and will be looking to come up with wins.
This is the first time after three long seasons that Lightning will be appearing in the playoffs. It is expected to meet Penguins in the first round of the playoffs which makes the game all the more exciting and important.
Both the teams will be looking to come up with a win to have confidence once the playoffs begin.
Lightning has shown its diversity in the season so far which has seen it coming up with a very strong defence and a productive offence.
"It means a lot", Lightning’s captain, Vincent Lecavalier, said. "We had some rough years and to come back this year, we set our goal to make the playoffs, and we did".
Lightning has played 77 games so far out of which it has emerged with 42 wins in regulation time and 11 in overtime to score a total of 95 points.
Wild has also played 77 games, winning 37 games in regulation time and eight games in overtime to score a total of 82 points.
Minnesota Wild was only a couple of points behind the final playoff spot despite being at 13th position.
However, with the passage of time the gap has increased and gone into double digits. It is at 11th spot in the Western Conference but trails Hawks for the final spot by 10 points.
The month of March has seen Wild being one of the poorest teams that has lost seven of its last eight games in regulation time.
Wild won its last game against Edmonton Oilers by 4-2 which brought some relief for the camp.
"That stint we went through was really tough on all the guys mentally", Wild’s forward, Brad Staubitz, said. "That was something we needed as a group, a good team win like that".
The game is important for both teams but from the looks of it Lightning needs the win more and will be giving it all that it has.
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