NASHVILLE -- The Wild will resume its Central Division schedule when it plays the first of back-to-back games on Monday against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
Minnesota returns home for a date against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, but has a big challenge ahead of it before then as it faces one of the NHL's best home ice advantages. Nashville's 28 wins on home ice tied for third-most in the Western Conference last season, a year where the Predators took home the President's Trophy as the League's top team in the regular season.
The Wild went 3-1-1 against the Preds last season but lost both games it played in Nashville, including a 3-0 defeat on Dec. 30 and a 2-1 shootout loss here on March 27. Historically, the Wild has fared decently in the Music City, earning at least a point in 10 of its past 15 games here.
If the Wild is to find a way to get a point or two against the Predators, it will likely need continued momentum from its power play, which capitalized twice in an
overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes
on Saturday.
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Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker scored on the man advantage, and Jared Spurgeon scored moments after another power play expired as the Wild earned at least a point for the third consecutive game.
"That's going to be a huge part of our game," said Wild forward Mikael Granlund, who also scored a goal against the Hurricanes.
Nashville's penalty kill, which ranked sixth-stingiest last season, has been middle of the road in the first five games of 2018-19, killing at just a 75 percent clip (21st in the NHL). The Wild's, by comparison, is at 85 percent, ranking seventh.
Both teams have power plays that rank among the bottom third, with Minnesota 21st at 16.7 percent but coming in off a 2-for-3 outing versus Carolina. The goals were the first two on the power play this season for the Wild.
"On all three power plays that we had in the game, I thought we had good opportunities," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau.
Nashville ranks one spot behind the Wild at just over 11 percent, but has plenty of offensive firepower to improve on those numbers.
Forwards Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson are averaging a point per game through five contests so far. Eleven different players have scored at least one goal for Nashville, with Forsberg and Arvidsson the only two scoring more than one (each has three).
Just two of Nashville's 20 skaters have a minus rating, while 17 have a net positive. Goaltender Pekka Rinne has been outstanding once again, posting a 2-1-0 record in three starts with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
