Tampa Bay Lightning wins 3-1 against Minnesota Wild in its bid to make it to the playoffs
The Xcel Energy Center was the venue for the second game on Saturday as Minnesota Wild played host to Tampa Bay Lightning. The game was important for Lightning as it was looking to move up in the Eastern Conference but Wild was out of the playoff’s contention
and had nothing to lose.
The game started off on the slower side but the shots and play-making got better with the passage of time which meant that both teams started to create a number of chances for themselves.
The attacks started off on the slower side but continued till the end which resulted in Wild scoring the lone goal of the period to lead at the end of the first period.
The second period was evenly matched between the two teams but Lightning proved to be more productive and scored twice to get into the lead.
Though the final 20 minutes of play saw Wild coming up with the majority of attacks but it was Lightning that scored again and won the game by 3-1 in the end.
Ryan Malone, Lightning’s winger was named the star of the game as he scored the game turning and equalising goal.
The defence of both the teams did an excellent job at the start but things started to get better for the offence with the passage of time. Both teams displayed some excellent passing and shooting abilities that put them in scoring positions every now and
then.
Resultantly, they had several scoring chances in the middle part of the period but were unable to benefit from them. It looked as if the period would end goalless but Wild scored in the 18th minute through Pierre-Marc Bouchard from a decent strike
to get into the lead.
The period ended with Wild leading by 1-0 as the teams went into the break with Lightning making eight shots on goal while Wild made nine shots on goal.
The second period started off with Lightning exploding and quickly capitalising from the start, scoring in the sixth minute through Ryan Malone to level the scores.
Lightning kept on piling pressure on the opposing team and scored once again in the 10th minute through Steve Downie to get into the lead.
The period saw both teams making a few more shots on goal but there were no further goals. It was Lightning who was leading 2-1 going into the break as they made 11 goal attempts during the period while the Wild made 10 shots on goal.
The final 20 minutes of play saw Wild on top of its game in both, defence and offence. It came up with 11 shots on goal and restricted Lightning to just four shots during the period.
However, it was Lightning who scored the lone goal of the final period in the 8th minute through Sean Bergenheim to win the game by 3-1 in the end.
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