TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning head north Saturday to face the Minnesota Wild, starting a four-game road swing with the best home record in their season so far still spotless at 8-0-0.
Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Minnesota leads the Central Division at 11-3-3 and is 4-0-1 on its own ice, so the Bolts are walking into one of the tougher buildings on the early schedule.
Tampa Bay comes in at 10-3-2 with 22 points after a 4-1 win over Chicago on Thursday. Ilya Mikheyev scored twice in that game, and Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh added goals. Hedman broke the ice with the man advantage just 4:12 into the game.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves against the Blackhawks and lost his shutout bid with 49 seconds to play. The night was also the 600th start of his career, and the win lifted his record this season to 8-3-1.
The power play has been a steady weapon. The Lightning have scored with the man advantage in seven of their last eight games, converting at 28% over that stretch, and they are 8-0-1 when they score first.
Road form is the open question. Tampa Bay is 6-1-2 against Western Conference teams and 3-1-2 against Central Division clubs, and the trip that starts in St. Paul will tell a lot about whether the fast start holds up away from home.
Chicago never found much against Vasilevskiy on Thursday, and Arvid Soderblom kept the Blackhawks close for a while by stopping 31 shots. The Lightning pulled away in the third period, when McDonagh beat the goalie with a slap shot and Mikheyev followed with a tip for his fourth goal of the season.
Saturday is the first of four straight games away from Amalie Arena, giving the club a chance to show its early-season numbers are not just a product of the home crowd.
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