The Backcheck: Bolts fall free at home

Teammate Conor Geekie also said the penalties changed the tone of a game that the Lightning said could have gone either way.

“I think the penalties got us into some trouble. That’s been a motto lately and I think we just need to toughen it up,” the rookie said. “I think we played to our game plan for 54 minutes, and those six minutes on the PK definitely wore us down.”

Boldy scored the game-winning goal on the power play after a penalty was called 33 seconds into the third period. Kirill Kaprizov finished the game with an empty net after opening the scoring with the only goal of the first half. Kaprizov finished with two goals and an assist to lead all players.

“There’s a reason they haven’t lost in regulation,” Cooper said of the Wild, who are now 5-0-2. “That’s a really good hockey team. I thought they were two good hockey teams. You probably wake up in the morning, with analysis or numbers, people will sit there and say, ‘Maybe Tampa should have won that game.’ But the moment we did the things where we shot ourselves in the foot came back to burn us.”

Rayo goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 14 saves. The Bolts are now 4-3-0 this season and prepare to host the Washington Capitals (5-1-0 this year) on Saturday.

The three stars of Benjamin: