Girgensons and the Lightning Win Third Straight NHL Game

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at home in a regular-season game of the NHL, North America's top ice hockey league. It was Tampa Bay's third straight win this season. Latvian centre Zemgus Girgensons plays for the Lightning.

Girgensons' game

Girgensons spent 14 minutes and 26 seconds on the ice. He was on the penalty kill for one minute and eight seconds and on the power play for seven seconds. The Latvian took one shot on goal, made two hits and won five of 11 faceoffs (45.5%). His plus/minus was even.

He continued to play at centre of the third line alongside Ilya Mikheyev and Pontus Holmberg. Girgensons has not yet scored this season but has one assist. In total he has won 23 faceoffs this season; last year, in 74 games, he won one hundred.

How the game went

Defenceman John Carlson scored twice and Anthony Cirelli added one. Nikita Kucherov had two assists, and goaltender Darren Raddysh...

Correction: Tampa Bay goaltender Denis Gildebi stopped 34 shots, while Minnesota's Jesper Wallstedt saved 32.

In the middle of the first period the Lightning built a 2-0 lead within 36 seconds: Cirelli deflected a shot by Erik Cernak, and Carlson scored from the blue line. In the second period Quinn Hughes cut the deficit, but Carlson restored the two-goal margin after a pass from Kucherov. It was Tampa Bay's first successful power play of the season after 14 failed attempts. Blake Coleman made it 3-2 for Minnesota on the power play, but the score did not change after that.

Carlson's winning goal came on a slap shot. Since the 2009/10 season, when shot types began to be officially tracked, he has scored 79 goals this way, sharing first place among defencemen with P.K. Subban.

Minnesota was without defenceman Olli Maatta and forward Nick Foligno because of injuries.