By Michael Wax
For the first time since April 2, 2011, the Tampa Bay Lightning won a game in Minnesota. The Bolts took down the Wild 4-1, thanks to a big defensive performance. Here's how they stacked up:
Hagel-Point-Kucherov
Paul-Cirelli-Stamkos
Sheary-Motte-Eyssimont
Jeannot-Glendening-Watson
Hedman-Perbix
de Haan-Raddysh
Carlile-Myers
Vasilevskiy in goal.
Here are our three biggest takeaways:
Raddy
Goal-scoring for Lightning defensemen has been a struggle this year for those not named Victor Hedman. Coming into this game, the Lightning's other eight defensemen that had made an appearance this season combined for four goals. This was especially weird for Darren Raddysh, who finished third in AHL defenseman scoring last year and showed flashes of offensive brilliance in his short stint in Tampa in 2022-23. In this game, he put the team on his back.
In the second period, a 20 minutes that has become notorious during road games, the 27-year-old saddled up and delivered. Less than five minutes into the second, Luke Glendening saved a clearing attempted by Minnesotas from going out and fired it towards the net. Raddysh, who was up against the far boards attempting to block the clearing attempt originally, found his way to the front of the net and deflected Gelndening's shot behind Wild goalie Marc-André Fleury.
Raddysh's second of the night was super smooth. After a hard slap shot from Raddysh that Fleury stopped, he once again saw himself along the far boards, this time thanks to a cycle play with Tyler Motte and Conor Sheary. Sheary left the puck for a charging Raddysh, who took the puck behind the net and then caught Fleury a step behind and tucked it into a wild-open net to double the lead.
Raddysh was easily the most productive player on the ice for the Lightning, and it showed:
Declan's Debut
After the Lightning experimented with a 13 forward/ 5 defensemen lineup against the Jets due to cap constraints, they were finally able to call up some new defenders after performing some cap maneuvers (Mikhail Sergachev was placed on LTIR). Sean Day was recalled after being sent down on Tuesday, as he seems to have frequent flier miles at this point with the Lightning. The other name they called up was rookie defender Declan Carlile, a 23-year-old who was in the middle of his second full AHL season.
The lefty was slotted into the lineup on the third pair, his partner switching between Phil Myers, Darren Raddysh, and Nick Perbix. Carlile would play 11:27 and put up two blocked shots and one hit. He was a +1 as well, on the ice for Darren Raddysh's second goal of the game. His calm play and defensive prowess garnered rave reviews from fans and team members alike:
Is he the next Victor Hedman? No, probably not. But if he can provide some solid defense while chipping in every so often while in the lineup for this short amount of time, he might just play his way onto a healthy Lightning lineup.
Long Time Coming
The Lightning have had a very tough time in Xcel Energy Center. How tough? The last time they won in that building was April 2, 2011. The Lightning won 3-1, eliminating the Wild from playoff contention. For some context, Barack Obama was still in his first term as President, the #1 song was "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga, and the Lightning were just about to start their improbable run to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.
Ryan Malone, Steve Downie, and Sean Bergenheim were the goal scorers for the Lightning, Dwayne Roloson made 29 saves, and Guy Boucher was the coach behind the bench.
It's been a while.
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