The Wild escaped Thursday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Xcel Energy Center without any injuries, but just barely.
Ryan Hartman exited during the first period after being hit into the glass in the first minute of the game, and Marcus Johansson left briefly after taking a puck to the face.
Both eventually returned and finished the game, but the Wild dropped their fourth straight contest with a 4-1 loss to the Lightning.
Defenseman Darren Raddysh scored two second-period goals for the Lightning (19-16-5) to put them up 2-0 after a scoreless first period. Then Victor Hedman put Tampa Bay up 3-0 with a power-play goal two minutes into the third period.
Zach Bogosian finally got the Wild (16-17-4) on the scoreboard with a goal 15 minutes, 35 seconds into the third period, but at that point it was too little, too late.
Brandon Hagel scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to close out the win for Tampa Bay.
Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots for the Lightning, while Marc-Andre Fleury had 26 saves on 29 shots from Tampa Bay. Fleury, with 550 career wins, is just one shy of trying Patrick Roy for second all-time in NHL history.
He’ll have to wait until at least Saturday for his next chance at that win when the Wild take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m.
