Minnesota Wild vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction: Will the guests be able to break this terrible streak?

Prediction for the NHL match which will take place on January 5. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

The Wild changed head coach during the championship, and after the appointment of John Hynes, who replaced fired Dean Evason, achieved some success, returning to the race for the playoff zone. However, Minnesota is in a slump, and Kirill Kaprizov's gang is coming into the matchup with Tampa Bay with three straight losses.

Characteristically, the black streak hit the Wild during meetings with Canadian teams. First, Minnesota lost both early New Year's Eve games to Winnipeg - 2:4 away and 2:3 at home, and then failed on its ice against Calgary - 1:3. The Wild's gap from the top-8 of the Western Conference has increased again and currently stands at 4 points.

The last few games for the Lightning are also going poorly - three losses in four previous games. The team played most of those games at home and they closed the stretch at Amalie Arena 1:2 - a win over Montreal (4:3) and losses to the New York Rangers (1:5) and Florida (2:3). Tampa Bay then went on the road and also lost to Winnipeg, 2:4, ahead of their game against Minnesota.

In total, Tampa Bay has only 18 wins in 39 games. The Lightning dropped out of the top eight of the East, although they are only one point behind it.

After leading Minnesota, John Hynes has immediately improved the team's defense. However, as recent games have shown, the Wild are having big problems on offense - only five goals in their previous three games against Winnipeg and Vancouver. It wouldn't be a surprise if Tampa Bay doesn't concede too many from the Wild, especially considering Andrei Vasilevskiy's gradually gaining form in goal. We bet on a unproductive productive.