TAMPA, Fla. -- The Minnesota Wild haven't come close to slumping in a long while, but the Western Conference's top team in is a bit of a rough patch, relatively speaking.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, scrapping to stay alive in the playoff race, play host to the Wild on Thursday.
Minnesota (42-16-6) lost two of its past three games in regulation, something the Wild hadn't done since November.
The Lightning (30-26-9) will try to continue their strong play of late despite a recent scoring drought.
"We've got one goal in regulation in our last two games, but we have three out of four points," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper pointed out Tuesday after a 1-0 overtime loss to the New York Rangers the night before.