Former third overall pick Jonathan Drouin requested trade from Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay played much of the homestand from behind, forced to chase the game.

The Wild continue their road trip by taking on the scuffling Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ryan Callahan scored the lone shootout goal and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Saturday night.

“I think he’s a tremendous young talent”, Yzerman said. “Just try to keep my positioning”. He seems to be a good play-making left wing, but he has defensive liabilities which he needs to work on and improve. “When you miss a prolonged amount of time, you have it in your best interest to go and get game time”. By that time, the Lightning already had a 1-0 lead thanks to Valtteri Filppula’s lovely toe-drag, near-post bullet at 11:40.

“(Drouin) has played in nine games in the last nine weeks”, Yzerman said. Vasilevskiy tried to play the puck from behind his net, but Coyle intercepted his outlet pass and scored in the vacated spot.

Following the game, Palat said it took a little time on the ice to regain his form. “If we won the shootout, we might be feeling pretty good about ourselves”. But it’s not the end of the world, we just need to have a better start [Sunday]. His use came under constant scrutiny, even in the postseason when he was primarily a healthy scratch as the Lightning opted to go with Jonathan Marchessault and Mike Angelidis over Drouin for the first three rounds.

“I thought we had one of the best starts we’ve had all year”, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.

According to HockeyAnalysis.com, Drouin has posted a 52.7 CF% across two seasons while producing at a clip of 1.88 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five hockey. Since the debacle in Washington, where they gave up three power-play goals, allowing the Capitals to rally from a three-goal deficit, the Lightning have killed 17-straight penalties.

Drafted third-overall by the Lightning in the 2013 NHL Draft, Drouin has tallied two goals and six assists for eight points in 19 games with the Lightning this season.

There is no word on whether Drouin will get his desire for a move, but Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman responded by insisting the club comes first.

There is still plenty of time left, but Drouin will now have to make his name with a more scrutinous eye on him. But after suffering an injury that kept him out for five games, he returned to the lineup playing on the fourth line. Zach Parise played after sitting out a game with a knee injury.

BISHOP OKAY: G Ben Bishop, who left Friday’s practice after 10 minutes and didn’t return, said he felt fine after Saturday’s morning skate and was available to play against the Wild. The 24-year-old was all over the ice, delivering big hits and timely passes.