After nearly three weeks on the road, the Minnesota Wild were finally back in the comfort of their home arena to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, November 1st. This is the second time these two teams have faced each other in the last fortnight. The Wild regained a certain advantage in their game while Ryan Hartman rejoined the team following injury and illness over the past five games.

The Wild were coming off a come-from-behind victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins for Marc-André Fleury’s final game at his first NHL home. The Lightning were also coming off a victory; against the Colorado Avalanche, who the Wild has not seen yet this season. The savage has come go out with victory thank you to some well-known heroes and to some who stepped up to shine, and that’s where we’ll start.

Wild’s Likely and Unlikely Heroes Stand Up

Kirill Kaprizov was the Wild’s hero this season and didn’t stop against the Lightning. His team may have trailed first, but he kept pushing and eventually found the right setup for Joel Eriksson Ek, and Kaprizov had an assist for his 19th point of the season. He also extended his points and assists streak to seven games, which is not yet a career high, but close.

As Kaprizov continued to add to his point streak, one of his teammates, who is more known for his defensestepped in to help on the goal front. It was Brock Faber, who scored his second goal of the season with help from one of the Wild’s other unlikely heroes, Jakub Lauko, who has had a great season so far.

The Wild had to fight back in the third as Kaprizov scored two goals to bring his point total to three for the night and 21 points overall. Matt Boldy squeezed between these two goals with an empty goal of his own. The Wild continues to have a production of their heroes expected as Kaprizov and Boldy, as well as their unexpected ones like Faber and Lauko. Marco Rossi even tried to score a goal in the second period, but it turned out that there were two pucks on the ice, and he didn’t use the puck in the actual game, so it was ruled out. They will continue to win games if they can maintain this production.

Wild special teams struggle

The Wild have had numerous penalty issues in the past, and early in their game against the Lightning, it looked like they would revert to their old habits as they headed to the penalty box. They were doing pretty well on the penalty kill recently, but they started to fall against the Lightning.

The Wild allowed not one but two shorthanded goals, allowing the Lightning to score 50 percent on the power play. In contrast, the Wild had many good chances that seemed to go through, but couldn’t get it done on their power plays, something they’ve been good at all season.

The Wild have been one of the least penalized teams this season so far, and these four penalties will make this the most penalized game they have been. While four penalties might not seem like a lot, two goals from two shots on goal are. If the Wild want to go this route and get stuck in the box, they need to tighten up the penalty kill. Hopefully they will find a way to stay more disciplined for the rest of the season and start producing on the power play again.

Wild’s even-strength defense steps up

Their penalty kill may have been tough, but their five-on-five defense did well, including Filip Gustavsson. Despite three goals allowed, it would have been much more if Gustavsson hadn’t been on his game and hadn’t done everything he could. He was getting involved in poke-checks, strong passes, and aggressive play, which cut off some of the Lightning’s potential chances before they started.

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The Wild’s blocked shots also jumped, which helped Gustavsson greatly. They blocked 18 shots in total, with Jonas Brodin taking the lead with five blocks and Jake Middleton right behind with four. They struggled with blocked shots to start the season, but as the games went on they got better and were willing to block more. Gustavsson can make save after save, but eventually one or two will get through unless the defense in front of him blocks before they can get there.

Stay wild at home

The Wild will be at home after being on the road for so long, and their next opponent will be the Toronto Maple Leafs. Another team that will be a big test for the Wild as they face some of NHL superstars Auston Matthews and William Nylander, among others. Hopefully this come-from-behind victory will give the Wild the momentum they need to come out strong against the Maple Leafs.