Tampa and Minnesota are among the top three in their conferences, demonstrating phenomenal scoring. Although the visitors enter this game in weakened form, such series happen to every team in the NHL. In any case, the regular season is drawing to a close, and both teams have practically secured a playoff spot, but there's still room to fight for the top spot in their conferences.
Given Tampa's current explosive offensive form, and Minnesota's snipers capable of exploiting the slightest flaws in their opponent's defense (as evidenced by recent results and their head-to-head matchup), the game promises to be an open one. Especially since Kucherov has been in incredible form for the Lightning (119 points this season), while Minnesota has Kaprizov and Boldy.
