Coming off a dominant 5-1 weekend win over the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to extend their winning streak to three games on Monday night against the Minnesota Wild. The Wild lead Tampa 2-1 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul as the clubs head into the third period.
After a scoreless first period, Steven Stamkos opened the scoring in the second with his 15th goal of the season, trailing league leader Phil Kessel by only one. The Lightning center has heated up in a hurry and that continued on Monday when he ripped one past Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom for the unassisted score.
The Wild would respond quickly, however, as Cal Clutterbuck evened the game on a shorthanded goal set up by a terrible turnover by Tampa defenseman Eric Brewer. Minnesota would take the 2-1 lead with a little over two minutes remaining as Pierre-Marc Bouchard found the back of the net, beating Mathieu Garon. Wild goalie Backstrom has stymied the Lightning thus far, who will need to manufacture a goal in the third to pull even.