NHL On Tap: Stamkos on brink of 500 goals, Lightning visit Wild

Welcome to the NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the three games Wednesday.

Heavyweights face off in Minnesota

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild play at Xcel Energy Center (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, TVAS) in third place in the Atlantic and Central Division, respectively, and each with Stanley Cup Playoff aspirations. The Lightning (24-11-1) play the second of a back to back coming off a 4-1 win at the Chicago Blackhawks. Tampa Bay has won four consecutive games, is 8-2-0 in its past 10 and captain Steven Stamkos remains two goals from 500 in the NHL. He's scored four goals in 19 games against Minnesota, the fewest against any NHL team. The Wild (21-13-2) are 10-3-2 in their past 15 games against the Lightning. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

Stars return home to face reeling Ducks

The Stars (23-10-6) lead the tough Central Division and had won four straight prior to a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. They visit the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; BSSC, BSSW, ESPN+, SN NOW) in the second of a back-to-back set that looks one-sided on paper. The Ducks (10-24-4) have been outscored 10-2 in their past two games and haven't scored more than two regulation goals in their past six. However, Anaheim's last two wins have come against the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, two of the top teams in the Western Conference. The Stars are led by their top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski, who each have at least 38 points and are plus-21 or better. -- David Satriano, staff writer

Another comeback for Red Wings?

Will the Detroit Red Wings need to be the comeback kids again when they host the New Jersey Devils at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN NOW)? The Red Wings (16-12-7) has won two of their past three games rallying from down multiple goals. They scored three times in 1:55 in the third period for a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 31 and came back from down four goals to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime three days prior. The Red Wings can surpass 40 points in their 36th game of the season; it took them 40 games to reach 40 points in 2021-22, and forward Robby Fabbri will make his season debut and play his first game since a torn ACL sustained against the Wild on March 10. The Devils (23-11-3) can become the fourth team in the Eastern Conference to get to 50 points after it took them 63 games to do so last season. -- William Douglas, staff writer

Wednesday games

New Jersey Devils at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN NOW)
The Devils are 2-7-2 in their past 11 games but 13-2-1 on the road this season. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past five games. Goalie Ville Husso will start for the Red Wings after he was sidelined by a non-COVID-19 illness. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was assigned to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League for conditioning. He has not started an NHL game since Dec. 8.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Minnesota Wild (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, TVAS)
The Lightning have 12th comeback wins this season, tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the most in the NHL. Kirill Kaprizov's 13-game home point streak (eight goals, 15 assists) is one behind Marian Gaborik for the second-longest in Wild history.

Dallas Stars at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET; BSSC, BSSW, ESPN+, SN NOW)
Robertson's 26 goals are fifth in the NHL and his 55 points are tied with Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson for third. He has an eight-game point streak (12 points; three goals, nine assists) for the Stars, who are 12-6-3 on the road. Troy Terry leads the Ducks with 12 goals 31 points. Anaheim has scored 2.44 goals per game this season, 31st in the NHL ahead of Chicago (2.16). It has given up the most (4.11).