Wild at Predators preview

WILD (42-24-9) at PREDATORS (48-16-11)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The Predators, who have the best record in the NHL with 107 points, one more than the Tampa Bay Lightning, are 0-2-1 in their past three games following their Nashville record 15-game point streak (14-0-1). They have a five-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division.
The Wild, 6-2-2 in their past 10 games, are in third place in the Central Division with 93 points, nine behind the second-place Jets and three ahead of the fourth-place Colorado Avalanche. Minnesota has a game in hand on Colorado.
Forward
Jordan Greenway
will make his NHL debut for the Wild after he was signed to an entry-level contract Monday, following three seasons with Boston University. Greenway, 21, a second-round pick (No. 50) in the 2015 NHL Draft, is expected to play on a line with Matt Cullen and Charlie Coyle.

Players to watch

Wild forward Eric Staal has 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in his past 17 games.
Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"I'm excited. To be honest, I didn't sleep much last night. I've been thinking about it for a while. But yeah, all excitement. The guys have been great. They've been helping me out a ton. It's been very comforting. It's been a great start." -- Wild forward Jordan Greenway on making his NHL debut
"You want to go in with a mentality that you're competing and you're playing hard. I think we took a good step in the right direction last game [a 5-4 shootout loss at Winnipeg on Monday] … But we need to get back to what made us successful." -- Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise -- Mikko Koivu -- Nino Niederreiter
Jordan Greenway -- Matt Cullen -- Charlie Coyle
Daniel Winnik -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno
Ryan Suter -- Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin -- Ryan Murphy
Nick Seeler -- Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Gustav Olofsson, Tyler Ennis
Injured: Luke Kunin (knee), Jared Spurgeon (hamstring)

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Miikka Salomaki -- Nick Bonino -- Colton Sissons
Scott Hartnell -- Mike Fisher -- Ryan Hartman
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Anthony Bitetto -- Matt Irwin
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched: None
Injured: Austin Watson (upper body), Alexei Emelin (upper body), Calle Jarnkrok (upper body), Yannick Weber (upper body)

Status report

The Predators have begun the process of trying to sign forward Eeli Tolvanen, who they selected with the No. 30 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, to an entry-level contract.

Stat pack

Staal has five points (one goal, four assists) in four games against Nashville this season. … Rinne is 0-3-0 with a 3.73 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage against Minnesota this season.