Game Day: Wild vs. Preds Preview

After starting the weekend with a loss in Tampa, the Nashville Predators will look to rebound tonight when they host the Minnesota Wild at Bridgestone Arena. Tonight's contest is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the division foes; the Preds have three wins in as many tries against the Wild thus far and have outscored them 17-6 this season.
The Predators defeated Calgary in a shootout last Tuesday, and their next contest didn't come until last night, a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Lightning. Nashville's effort wasn't up to their standards on Saturday evening, and they'll be focused on getting back to a more consistent performance tonight in the penultimate home game of the regular season.

"We weren't good enough, frankly, in several different areas," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said following Saturday's game. "I think one of the big things was the penalty discipline against the power play like that, particularly early in the game. I also just think we had some breakdowns tonight again where we gave them some real high-quality looks versus the easy looks for them with a high level of skill to get point-blank shots. We've got to clean that up."
"We've got to have a playoff mindset," Preds Captain Roman Josi said last night. "We lost the game tonight, but we play again tomorrow, and we can't have this game carry over into tomorrow. Tomorrow's a new game, it's a new day, so we've got to make sure we turn the page real quick. And obviously there's things we have to do better, and I'm sure we're going to look at that stuff tomorrow morning. But after that we have to have a playoff mindset right now. It doesn't matter what happened last game. The next game is the most important one."
Predators forward Michael McCarron returned to the lineup on Saturday night after missing eight games due to injury. Defensemen Ben Harpur and Jeremy Davies, as well as forward Eeli Tolvanen, were scratched. Blueliner Jeremy Lauzon remains week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

The Good Guys:

Josi scored on the power play in Tampa Bay to record his 90th point of the season. Nashville's captain became just the ninth defenseman in NHL history - and the first since 1994 - to record 90 points in a single campaign, and his 10th power-play goal of the season marked the most by an NHL defenseman since his former teammate Shea Weber had 12 in 2016-17 (w/ MTL).
Alexandre Carrier also scored on Saturday night, and Juuse Saros allowed six goals and was pulled in favor of David Rittich in the third period.
Josi (21g-69a) continues to lead NHL defensemen - and his club - with 90 points, followed by Matt Duchene (40g-39a) with 79 points and Filip Forsberg (39g-38a) with 77 points. Saros is now 38-25-3; Rittich is 5-3-2.

The Opposition:

The Wild have won each of their last four games, including a pair of 6-3 victories over Vancouver and Seattle on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 45 goals and 101 points, followed by former Preds forward Kevin Fiala (32g-50a) with 82 points and Mats Zuccarello (24g-55a) with 79 points. Goaltender Cam Talbot is 31-12-4 on the season; Marc-Andre Fleury is 7-1-0 since joining the Wild at the Trade Deadline.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 42-26-(5)-8 all-time against the Wild, including a 25-9-(2)-4 record at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville is 4-1-0 in their last five games vs. the Wild; they are 9-1-0 in their last 10; and 5-0-0 in their last five on home ice.
The Predators have won 10 of their last 11 games vs. the Wild, a stretch that included a seven-game win streak from March 27, 2018-Oct. 24, 2019. Nashville allowed two-or-fewer goals in six of those seven wins. Nashville has not lost to Minnesota on home ice since Dec. 27, 2016, an eight-game span.

Notables Versus Minnesota:

Roman Josi owns 11 points (4g-7a) in three games against the Wild this season. Two of his four four-point efforts in 2021-22 have come against Minnesota.
Filip Forsberg scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 8, 2013, vs. Minnesota. Forsberg's 15 goals against the Wild are tied for the second-most he's scored against a single opponent in his NHL career; he has eight points (3g-5a) in three games against the Wild in 2021-22.
Ryan Johansen has 25 points (10g-15a) in 31 career games vs. the Wild, including 15 points (8g-7a) in his last 14 meetings. He has five goals against Minnesota this season, including his first career hat trick on April 5.
Matt Duchene has recorded 31 points (8g-23a) in 49 career games against the Wild. Mikael Granlund was acquired from Minnesota in February 2019; he played parts of seven seasons for the Wild from 2012-19 and posted 93 goals and 317 points. Luke Kunin was drafted 15th overall by the Wild in the 2016 NHL Draft. Kunin appeared in 131 games for Minnesota from 2017-20, tallying 52 points (23g-29a).
Wild Head Coach Dean Evason served as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals - Nashville's AHL affiliate - from 2012-18. Minnesota forwards Kevin Fiala (2015-19), Frederick Gaudreau (2016-19) and Ryan Hartman (2018-19) were previous members of the Predators.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight's 7 p.m. CT puck drop from Nashville begins at 6:30 p.m. with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Kara Hammer have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 6 p.m. with Darren McFarland.