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Wild stifle Lightning to halt slide

Nov 29, 2011 - 3:29 AM St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Niklas Backstrom stopped 32 shots to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cal Clutterbuck and Mikko Koivu each had a goal and an assist while Pierre- Marc Bouchard scored the other goal for the Wild, who snapped a two-game slide.

Steven Stamkos scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who had won their previous two. Mathieu Garon stopped 21-of-23 shots.

The first 20 minutes passed without a goal, but the Lightning struck 5:53 into the second when Stamkos skated into the Minnestoa end and from the right circle and snapped a hard wrister into the left corner.

However, a pair of turnovers from Tampa allowed Minnesota to take the lead with the first goal coming at the 7:39 mark of the second.

Eric Brewer tried to bring the puck out of his end up the middle, but lost control and it was grabbed by Koivu, who slid over to the right side before sending it back to the slot where Clutterbuck waited for Garon to commit before putting it in.

With under three minutes to play in the second, good work in the Tampa end caused a turnover and Nick Johnson sent a backhand pass from the slot over to the right circle where Bouchard's one-timer sailed home.

Backstrom kept the lead by making 13 saves in the third period and Koivu sealed the win with an empty-netter, the 100th goal of his career.

Game Notes

Tampa plays in Detroit on Wednesday...Minnesota plays at Edmonton on Wednesday...These teams split a pair of games last season, but Monday's contest was the only meeting for this season...Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.