Raw Charge
Summary
John Carlson scored twice, including the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first power play goal, as the Lightning defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 to extend their winning streak to three games. Anthony Cirelli had the other goal while Dennis Hildeby marked his Tampa Bay debut with 34 saves. Quinn Hughes and Blake Coleman scored for the Wild as they suffer their first regulation loss of the season. Unlike their first two games at home, it took the Lightning, who went with an 11/7 line-up for the third straight game, a couple of shifts to get their offense going. Both teams were a little choppy with the puck and it led to a little bit of zone time for the Wild (and a collision between Hildeby and Joel Eriksson Ek). Once they got their legs under them, the Lightning found their scoring touch on a couple of similar plays. First it was the Cirelli line that established a nice cycle game and eventually worked the puck out to Erik Cernak. The big guy quickly snapped a shot towards the net, and Anthony Cirelli was able to get his stick on it for a deflection past Jesper Wallstedt. On the next shift, John Carlson rudely interrupted Public Address announcer Paul Porter’s goal call by wristing in a shot from the point. The shot, from almost the same spot Cernak let his go, snuck inside the near post past Wallstedt, who was partially screened by Gage Goncalves in front of him. The Lightning had a chance to debut their new-look power play units when Jonas Brodin went to the box at the 12:34 mark, but instead D’Astous stayed on the second unit. They had some zone time, but couldn’t find paydirt. The same went for the first unit when they took to the ice about 45 seconds into the opportunity. Hildeby, who hadn’t seen much action since early in the period had to be really sharp on a spin-around shot from Maxim Shabanov. The big goalie kicked out his right pad to make the stop, which came on just the sixth shot of the period for the Wild. Minnesota had the big goaltender spinning in the crease on shots from Quinn Hughes and Nico Sturm, but neither crossed the goal line. That would change when Hughes beat Hildeby early in the second as his wrist shot from the slot beat the goaltender cleanly. The defense was a little out of sorts on the play when J.J. Moser went down after blocking a shot with his ankle. He was able to get back up, but didn’t seem to have the power to push Ryan Hartman out of Hildeby’s line of vision. The one-goal gap would prove to be temporary. Anthony Cirelli drew a penalty in the offensive zone and the power play went back to work. They had some solid puck movement and Nikita Kucherov found a wide-open John Carlson in the slot and the veteran slammed home a one-timer for his second goal of the game. Just like that, the power play went from 0-for-14 to 1-for-1. Minnesota’s chance with the extra skater came with Max Crozier in the box and it almost produced the Lightning’s first short-handed goal as Brandon Hagel slipped between some defenders and had a step at the blueline before he was upended (some might say tripped). He still managed to get a pretty good shot off before voicing his displeasure at the officials. The Wild generated some good looks, including a point-blank shot by old friend Blake Coleman from in front of the net, but Hildeby was there to make the stops. Nikita Kucherov had a slow skate to the Lightning bench following the penalty kill when he was knocked down. A high-sticking penalty by Pontus Holmberg gave him some extra time to rest on the bench. Unfortunately, it also gave the Wild a goal as Coleman snapped a wrist shot over Hildeby’s glove off of the rush. Kucherov returned for his next shift looking none the worse for wear. The special teams bonanza continued when old friend Zach Bogosian tackled Jeff Viel in front of the Minnesota net. The best chance came from in close as Hagel almost picked the far corner. Minnesota finished the period with a flurry of chances, but Carlson did a good job of tying up a stick on a rebound and Hildeby made a nice save on Highes after Shabanov had put a shot wide. With twenty minutes to go in the game, both teams came out skating in the third period. Minnesota generated a few good looks early, and Brandon Hagel almost beat Wallstedt with a change-up as his shot attempt was stick-checked, but the Minnesota goalie was able to drag his right pad behind him to keep the puck out. Wallstedt came up the victor again a few minutes later as Hagel slid in on a short breakaway, but couldn’t find paydirt. That lines pinned the Wild in following the TV timeout, but Wallstedt came up with back to back stops on Crozier and Guentzel. Carlson made a bid for his third goal as he walked in alone on the goaltender, but wasn’t able to put it past him. After enjoying the action from afar, Hildeby had to be spry as an errant bounce off the dasher came into his crease and threatened to cross the goal line. The shots started to pile up as Minnesota pushed for the equalizer, but Hildeby held the fort, including a nice right pad save on Joel Ericksson Ek. The Wild had one last push at the buzzer, but Hildeby denied Matt Boldy and Brandon Hagel tied up his man in front of the net to prevent a secondary chance. The Lightning had bent a little, but did not break and they held on for the win. The Goals Anthony Cirelli (1) [Erik Cernak, Brandon Hagel] 1-0 Lightning Tampa Bay goal! Scored by Anthony Cirelli with 14:34 left in the 1st. Assisted by Erik Cernak and Brandon Hagel. TBL: 1 | MIN: 0 #MINvsTBL #GoBolts #mnwild [image or embed] — NHL Goals ( @nhlgoals.bsky.social ) October 8, 2026 at 7:26 PM John Carlson (1) [Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point] 2-0 Lightning Tampa Bay goal! Scored by John Carlson with 13:58 left in the 1st. Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. TBL: 2 | MIN: 0 #MINvsTBL #GoBolts #mnwild [image or embed] — NHL Goals ( @nhlgoals.bsky.social ) October 8, 2026 at 7:28 PM Quinn Hughes (2) [Bobby Brink, Jared Spurgeon] 2-1 Lightning Tampa Bay goal! Scored by Anthony Cirelli with 14:34 left in the 1st. Assisted by Erik Cernak and Brandon Hagel. TBL: 1 | MIN: 0 #MINvsTBL #GoBolts #mnwild [image or embed] — NHL Goals ( @nhlgoals.bsky.social ) October 8, 2026 at 7:26 PM John Carlson (2) [Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel] Power Play, 3-1 Lightning Power play goal for Tampa Bay! Scored by John Carlson with 15:05 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel. TBL: 3 | MIN: 1 #MINvsTBL #GoBolts #mnwild [image or embed] — NHL Goals ( @nhlgoals.bsky.social ) October 8, 2026 at 8:19 PM Blake Coleman (2) [Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes] Power Play, 3-2 Lightning Power play goal for Minnesota! Scored by Blake Coleman with 05:59 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes. TBL: 3 | MIN: 2 #MINvsTBL #GoBolts #mnwild [image or embed] — NHL Goals ( @nhlgoals.bsky.social ) October 8, 2026 at 8:41 PM The Numbers Box Score Time On Ice – Lightning Natural Stat Trick