Hynes returning to 'special place' as new Wild coach to face Predators

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- John Hynes found himself a bit turned around ahead of his coaching debut with the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

He's unlikely to get lost when he returns to Bridgestone Arena to face the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; BSWIX, BSNX, BSSO).

"Yeah, I was roaming around a little bit," Hynes said after his first practice Wednesday. "Everyone's so helpful, so it's good, but I had to ask a few people. I left and I came back the same way, but it didn't seem like it was the same way. Now I got it."

Hynes got it in Nashville, guiding the Predators to the Stanley Cup Playoffs during his first three seasons and was 134-95-18 in the regular season after replacing Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7, 2020. He was fired May 30 and replaced by Andrew Brunette the next day after the Predators missed the postseason for the first time since 2013-14.

"Nashville was a special place," Hynes said. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to coach there. The organization is fantastic. I enjoyed the players. I really grew as a coach there.

"… It's a little weird going back to coach this quick in Nashville, but I'm certainly looking forward to it."

In addition to any leftover suits and household items, Hynes and the Wild hope to pack another win and mount a comeback in the Central Division. Minnesota defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-1 at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday to end a seven-game skid (0-5-2) and give Hynes his first win after replacing Dean Evason on Monday.

"It was probably our best 60-minute game we've seen," Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "I think we've seen spurts of it. We had a couple periods I think, but never a full 60, and it showed what we can do. It's tough, but we have a base and hopefully we can build on that and play that way against Nashville."

The Wild (6-10-4) are seventh in the Central with 16 points, two ahead of the last-place Chicago Blackhawks. The Predators (11-10-0) are tied with the Arizona Coyotes for fifth and have won six consecutive games.

"(Nashville's) a different team right now with their personnel, but I think it's more right now with our team, regardless of whether we play in Nashville or where we play or who we play, it's the identity that we need to play with," Hynes said. "I think if we focus on that, we'll give ourselves the best chance to play the style of game that gives us the best chance to win.

Hynes said he'll continue to stand back and observe before he makes any big line changes or system overhauls, focusing instead on tweaks and team identity first.

"He told us that he believed in us to be a good team and not to focus too much on results but on the process," forward Frederick Gaudreau said. "He believed we can play fast because we have a fast team. He talked about not changing too much right off the bat like that … but just playing fast up and down the ice, having guys join the rush, loading back up."

Like Hynes, forward Marcus Foligno feels the path to success is paved with the help of a new coach bringing to life the identity the Wild have been masking most of the season: a hard-working and tough forechecking team with a propensity to steal games defensively.

"It's frustrating to have a start like this," Foligno said. "We were pretty optimistic when the season started. It's not like from Game 1. It was bad, it was just a little bit of a snowball effect and things got out of hand. We were really working to try and get that win, and it just seemed the past couple days, you lose a game in overtime, a shootout, and you come back and lose a close one against Colorado, you lose a game in Detroit where you felt like you were the better team. But it doesn't matter, you've [have to] win.

"John's a new voice and brings his experience in here. You don't want to think of it as another tryout, but you want to impress the new coach and you've [have to] pick up your game. That's what's needed in our room right now We all need to get a little bit better. I think John's going to bring that out of us, and hopefully we get on a roll."