Darren Raddysh gets Lightning going in win over Wild

Field Level Media|published: Thu 4th January, 23:02 2024

Jan 4, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (91) controls the puck against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at Xcel Energy Center. credits: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

Darren Raddysh scored his first two goals of the season to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Victor Hedman and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay, which won for the second time in three games.

Zach Bogosian scored Minnesota's lone goal. The Wild have lost four consecutive games after winning four straight.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn the victory.

Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 26 of 29 shots. Fleury missed another opportunity to tie Patrick Roy for second place in NHL history with 551 career victories.

Tampa Bay broke the scoreless stalemate with 15:29 to go in the second period. Raddysh battled for a loose puck in front of the net and punched it in with a backhanded shot for his first goal.

Raddysh struck again less than three minutes later. He carried the puck in from the right circle, skated behind the net and scored on a wraparound goal before Fleury could slide across the crease to make the stop.

Two minutes into the third period, Tampa Bay added a power-play goal to increase its lead to 3-0. Hedman scored on a slap shot from the top of the slot as Nicholas Paul set a screen in front of the net.

Minnesota cut the deficit to 3-1 with 4:25 to go in the third period. With traffic in front of the net, Bogosian fired a wrist shot from the right circle for his first goal.

Teammates skated over to congratulate Bogosian, who scored against his former team. He started the season with Tampa Bay before he was traded to Minnesota on Nov. 8 in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2025.

The Lightning sealed the outcome with Hagel's empty-net goal in the final minute. It marked the 11th goal for Hagel, who snapped an 18-game drought.

The Wild played without top-line forward Kirill Kaprizov for the third game in a row. Kaprizov was injured Dec. 30 against the Winnipeg Jets when he was checked hard from behind.

—Field Level Media

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