Minnesota @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2019 ) Minnesota 3, Tampa Bay 0

The Minnesota Wild have built most of their 10-game point streak without No. 1 goalie Devan Dubnyk and could be short two more key players when they go for a fifth straight victory Thursday against the host Tampa Bay Lightning. The Wild, who are 7-0-3 during their run, lost defenseman Jared Spurgeon (upper body) in the first period and captain Mikko Koivu (undisclosed) in the second Tuesday but rallied from two goals down for a 4-2 victory at Florida.

“It was pretty good resiliency, and the character of this team is really good,” Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after his team was outshot 46-26. “When we got down, we took it in stride. When we lost Spurgeon, we took it in stride. When we lost Mikko, we took it in stride and just kept playing.” Spurgeon is expected to be out about two weeks, Koivu is considered day-to-day and Dubnyk (personal matter) did not make the trip as the Wild go for a fourth consecutive victory in the series against the Lightning. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov boasts four goals during his six-game point streak after recording the overtime winner in Tampa Bay’s 3-2 victory at Nashville on Tuesday which followed a three-game losing streak. “We really wanted two points tonight and it showed in the way we played,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh told reporters after the win. “Maybe not as great at the start just because we spent a lot of time in our zone, but I thought we defended very well and finally got the job done, and that’s what’s most important.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin, FS North (Minnesota), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)

ABOUT THE WILD (13-11-4): Left wing Jason Zucker owns two goals and an assist in the past two games to tie veteran center Eric Staal, who was kept off the scoresheet the past two contests, for the team lead with 19 points. Left wing Zach Parise has four goals in the past five games to seize the team lead with 12 while 21-year-old forward Luke Kunin scored twice in his last three outings. Rookie Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 stops Tuesday to win his second game in two tries since being recalled from AHL Iowa and veteran goalie Alex Stalock (7-3-2, .912 save percentage) is 5-0-2 in his last seven decisions.

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (13-9-3): Kucherov has registered 12 of his team-leading 30 points in the past six games after the 26-year-old right wing missed a contest in Chicago with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Victor Hedman scored his fifth goal of 2019-20 and 99th of his career Tuesday to push his total to 23 points - one more than captain Steven Stamkos, who set up Kucherov’s winner among a pair of assists in the win. Left wing Ondrej Palat recorded his ninth goal Tuesday, which is one behind Kucherov and Brayden Point for the team lead and one more than he scored in 64 games last season.

OVERTIME

1. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy (10-7-1) had 30 saves in Tuesday’s win and is 3-2-2 with a .932 SP in his career against the Wild.

2. Minnesota D Jonas Brodin and F Marcus Foligno each need two assists to reach 100 in their career.

3. Lightning LW Alex Killorn (17 points, 23 games) missed the last two games with a lower-body injury and is questionable.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Wild 1