NHL

Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 2

Matt Boldy breaks 3rd-period tie, Wild top Lightning 4-2 to remain unbeaten in regulation

Nikita Kucherov extends his points streak with a brilliant goal vs. Wild

Minnesota improved to 5-0-2. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for his first victory of the season and the 562nd of his career.

Boldy’s power-play goal gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal.

Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov scored in the second period for Tampa Bay. The Lightning lost for the first time in four home games.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 14 saves in his third loss in a row.

Kaprizov gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period. Tampa Bay rallied on second-period goals 2:36 apart by Hagel and Kucherov. Eriksson Ek tied it late in the second.

Takeaways The Wild’s streak of not trailing in regulation ended at 391:31 when Kucherov put the Lightning ahead 2-1 It’s the second-longest streak from the start of the season in NHL history; the 1969-70 Boston Bruins didn’t trail for the first 457:21.

Kucherov leads the NHL with eight goals. He has points in each of the Lightning’s first seven games.

Key moment Boldy scored 21 seconds after Nick Paul’s needless high-sticking penalty gave the Wild their fourth power play.

Key stats The Wild have scored first in each of their seven games. They’ve outscored opponents 8-1 in the first period.

Tampa Bay, which had the NHL’s top power play last season, was 0 for 1 on Thursday and is 0 for 8 with the extra man in its four home games.

Up next The Wild continue a seven-game trip Saturday at Philadelphia. The Lightning host Washington on Saturday night.

Regular Season Series

MIN leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 6:23 Kirill Kaprizov Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Marco Rossi (4), Jonas Brodin (4)
Goal 2nd Period 8:55 Brandon Hagel Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Anthony Cirelli (8), Erik Cernak (3)
Goal 2nd Period 11:31 Nikita Kucherov Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Paul (5), Nick Perbix (3)
Goal 2nd Period 18:22 Joel Eriksson Ek Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Zach Bogosian (1), Matt Boldy (6)
Goal 3rd Period 0:54 Matt Boldy Goal (4) Slap Shot, assists: Mats Zuccarello (4), Kirill Kaprizov (9)
Goal 3rd Period 19:26 Kirill Kaprizov Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Jakub Lauko (1), Jake Middleton (4)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
19 Blocked Shots 16
29 Hits 14
7 Takeaways 7
18 Shots 26
1 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 1
25.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 23
55.8 Faceoff Win Percent 44.2
12 Giveaways 24
1 Total Penalties 4
2 Penalty Minutes 8

Game Information

Amalie Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 0 3 32 16
Minnesota 3 3 29 13
Dallas 0 6 24 12
Colorado 0 9 22 11
St. Louis 1 11 19 9
Utah 3 9 17 7
Chicago 1 12 15 7
Nashville 3 11 15 6

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 2 6 26 12
Florida 1 7 25 12
Tampa Bay 2 6 22 10
Boston 3 9 21 9
Buffalo 1 9 19 9
Detroit 2 9 18 8
Ottawa 1 10 17 8
Montreal 2 10 16 7
Full Standings