ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Instead of letting a third period lead slip away, the Minnesota Wild took one away.

Marc-Andre Bergeron assisted on a pair of goals early in the third as the Wild rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Friday afternoon, the team's first victory this season when trailing after 40 minutes.

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With the Wild trailing 2-1, James Sheppard tipped in Bergeron's slap shot to tie it at 2. Bergeron then set up Mikko Koivu's game-winner as the Wild denied new Lightning coach Rick Tocchet his first road win.

``It's always a little more intense in the third,' said Bergeron, who has five assists in Minnesota's last three games. ``I've had a lot of shots blocked, so it's something I've been focusing on to get those shots through. The last couple games have been good.'

Minnesota beat Washington 4-3 on Monday after leading 4-0 in the third and lost 4-3 to Dallas on Wednesday after leading 3-1.

``We showed that we can battle back and had a really strong third period, which is a big reason why we won,' said Nolan, who has two goals in as many games for the Wild.

Eric Belanger scored an empty-net goal in the final minute for the Wild.

Ryan Malone scored his third goal in as many games for the Lightning, who are 1-2-3 since Tocchet took over for the fired Barry Melrose.

``It seems like we're waiting for something bad to happen, instead of sticking to what we're trying to do,' Tocchet said. ``A couple of guys had the 'deer in the headlights' look. We've got to keep attacking.'

Malone, who signed a hefty free agent contract with Tampa Bay in the offseason, has six points in the Lightning's last four games. With the game tied 1-1 near the midway point of the second period, he finished off a scramble in front of the Minnesota net, slapping in the loose puck after teammate Vincent Lecavalier was checked into the crease.

``I got a goal, but it doesn't matter because we lost,' Malone said.

The Wild struck first when Owen Nolan scored his third goal of the season, a shot on net that deflected off Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith. Tampa answered in the final minute of the period with a power-play goal by Radim Vrbata. The Wild's Nicklas Backstrom stopped a Steve Downie breakaway in the second period but surrendered Malone's goal just seconds later.

Backstrom, who has started 19 of 21 games this season, had 35 saves - six during two full minutes of a 5-on-3 Lightning power play. Smith had 29 saves for Tampa Bay, which has one win in its last nine games.

``It was scary, that 5-on-3, 3-on-5 at the end, especially with the guys they have. We had a couple breaks there,' Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. ``They came close, but you have to give the guys who killed the penalty credit. Usually, you lose a game this way very easily.'

Notes: Lightning defenseman Marek Malik, injured in Wednesday's loss to the Rangers, was out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. ... The Wild held a brief ceremony to honor Lightning assistant coach Wes Walz before the game. An original member of the Wild, Walz played in 438 games with the team before retiring a year ago. ... Wild forward Andrew Brunette has the longest consecutive games streak in the NHL at 474.