Lightning score 5 unanswered goals to sink Wild

Field Level Media|published: Tue 24th March, 22:52 2026

NHL: Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning

Mar 24, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Scott Sabourin (46) and Minnesota Wild left wing Nick Foligno (71) fight in the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Erik Cernak scored a quirky, tiebreaking goal with less than three minutes left, and the Lightning opened a season-long seven-game homestand with five unanswered tallies in a 6-3 win to split the season series with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

With the game tied at 3, Cernak chased down a puck that bounced through Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson's crease. The defenseman then smashed the puck into the camera inside the net, shattering the lens and securing the game-winner.

Brandon Hagel added an empty-net goal at 18:42 with Gustavsson pulled and Pontus Holmberg was awarded the final goal while being fouled on a breakaway with 24 seconds remaining.

Darren Raddysh scored and recorded two assists. Hagel and Jake Guentzel posted a goal and an assist each. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves and assisted on Cernak's tally.

Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, while Mats Zuccarello and Brock Faber each scored. Gustavsson stopped 19 shots.

After Hagel's turnover when he could have cleared the zone, Minnesota set up on the man advantage and scored as Zuccarello's pass through the crease thumped off the skate of his former New York Rangers teammate Ryan McDonagh and went in at 2:28 of the first period.

Following Hagel's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Faber hit the net by sending a long shot through two screens out front as the Wild converted on their second power play at 18:49.

Less than four minutes into the second, Gustavsson kept the Lightning scoreless with a sprawling save on Gage Goncalves in close, but Brayden Point notched a power-play tally on a nice feed from Hagel at 5:45.

Just after a strong 5-on-3 penalty kill by the Lightning, Tarasenko scored on a bouncing shot at 9:51, the game's first even-strength goal, to restore the two-goal lead.

However, Guentzel cut it to 3-2 with a rebound shot while lying on the ice for his 300th career goal nearly three minutes later. Raddysh netted his 20th of the season at 15:19 on the power play to tie it at 3.

--Field Level Media