John Carlson Scores Twice as Lightning Hold Off Wild 3-2 in Dennis Hildeby's Debut
John Carlson scored his first two goals as a Lightning player, including the power-play winner, and Dennis Hildeby made 34 saves in his debut as Tampa Bay beat Minnesota 3-2 on Oct. 8.
TAMPA, Fla. — John Carlson had been a Tampa Bay Lightning for roughly three months and a Lightning goal-scorer for exactly zero games. Then Thursday night happened. Two goals, nine shots, one power play that finally, mercifully, woke up, and a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild at Benchmark International Arena that felt a lot more nervous than the scoreboard suggests.
Tampa Bay improved to 3-1-0 and swept its three-game homestand. Minnesota fell to 2-1-1 and has now dropped two straight. And for a Lightning team that came in 0-for-13 with the man advantage and living inside a slow-start conversation, the most important number of the night was a simple one: 1-for-1 when it counted.
Two Goals in 36 Seconds, and the Building Was Loud
The Lightning did not ease into this one. They put 14 shots on goal in the first period, and the opening goal came from exactly the kind of grunt work this team prides itself on. Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel won battles down low to get the puck to Erik Cernak at the point, and Anthony Cirelli got a stick on Cernak's shot for a redirection that beat Jesper Wallstedt at 5:26.
Thirty-six seconds later it was 2-0. Carlson, the free-agent defenseman who signed a two-year, $17 million deal on July 1, let a wrist shot go from the right point. Gage Goncalves was parked at the net front, Wallstedt never saw it, and the first Carlson goal in a Lightning sweater was in.
"I kind of got lucky, it was a good screen," Carlson said afterward. "It was a goalie-didn't-see-it kind of goal."
Lucky or not, it was the kind of start that tells a visiting team the night is going to be a long one. Minnesota's own coach, John Hynes, did not hide from it. He said the Wild were not fast enough early, did not win the wall plays or the net fronts, and needed more intensity right from the first shift.
Hughes Answers, Then Carlson Doubles Down
The Wild did not fold. Quinn Hughes cut it to 2-1 at 2:32 of the second with a shot from the center point that found its way through traffic and past Dennis Hildeby. It was the 2-1 pressure Minnesota had been looking for, and for a few minutes the energy in the building tilted.
It tilted back at 4:55. With the Lightning on the power play, Nikita Kucherov did what Nikita Kucherov does and looked a defender off, then slid the puck to the high slot. Carlson was wide open and one-timed it for 3-1. It was Tampa Bay's first power-play goal of the season after an 0-for-13 start, and it was Carlson's second of the night.
"It was a good play by 'Kuch' of looking people off," Carlson said. "We always talk about flipping coverages and find holes and sneak into spots. It was just a nice play, and I got wide open in the middle."
The Associated Press noted it was the 11th multi-goal game of Carlson's career. His nine shots on goal were the most of any player on the ice. Lightning coach Jon Cooper summed up the night in six words: "Good for him. Because we need him to do that."
Hildeby's Debut Gets Interesting
Here is where the game got a little hairy. Blake Coleman, a Lightning alum who knows precisely where this building keeps its soft spots, scored on a Minnesota power play at 14:01 of the second. He found the space in the left circle and beat Hildeby high on the glove side, with Kirill Kaprizov setting him up. Just like that, the cushion was one goal and the Wild had all of the third period to chase it.
They chased it hard. Minnesota finished with 36 shots on goal, and Hildeby turned away 34 of them in his first game with Tampa Bay after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1. That is a .944 save percentage on a debut night, and he sounded like a goalie who enjoyed it.
"It was fun, just battling out there," Hildeby said. "We did a good job of keeping it tight and the chances they had were shot off the ice, which is a pretty good recipe. Great, great job at the end there by everyone."
The Wild's push never fully broke through, and Wallstedt, who stopped 32 shots at the other end, did what he could. He was honest about the hole. "It's hard when they get two quick ones and you're just fighting from behind right away," Wallstedt said. "Not maybe our best start, but something to build off of."
The Turning Point
If you want one moment, it is the power-play goal. Not because it won a trophy, but because it flipped a narrative. Tampa Bay had gone three games without scoring with the man advantage, and every conversation about this team had started with some version of the same question. Carlson's one-timer off Kucherov's pass answered it, and the 3-1 lead gave the Lightning the margin they needed to survive Coleman's late-second-period power-play strike.
Stats That Matter
Kucherov finished with two assists and, by the NHL's count, his 1,130th career point, which ties him with Bernie Federko for 66th on the league's all-time list. Hughes had a goal and an assist, and he and Jared Spurgeon each extended a season-opening point streak that matched the longest by a defenseman in Wild history. Minnesota also lost defenseman Olli Maatta as a late scratch with a lower-body injury, which pushed David Spacek into the lineup.
What It Means
Three straight wins at home is a nice September-into-October confidence boost, but the Lightning are not pretending this was a perfect 60. The power play needed a pulse, and it got one. The goaltending needed a new voice, and Hildeby supplied a calm one. The first period needed to look like a statement, and it did. The question now is whether all of it travels.
The road is next. Tampa Bay heads out East for a pair of games, starting Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the New York Islanders. Minnesota has a few things to clean up, starting with how it begins games, if the Wild want to turn a good-looking roster into a good-looking record.
The Close
Carlson's first two goals as a Lightning player came in a one-goal win that needed every one of them. For a veteran defenseman who has spent his career as a quiet engine, that is a pretty loud way to say hello.
Photo Credit: Samantha Diane/Undrafted
