Game Day: Preds vs. Wild Preview

The Nashville Predators (41-31-8) will host the Minnesota Wild (46-25-10) in the first of back-to-back home games to close out the 2022-23 season Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Monday at Calgary:
Sanford - Glass - Tomasino
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Parssinen
Afanasyev - Jankowski - McCarron
McDonagh - Fabbro
Barrie - Livingstone
Stastney - Foote
Saros

Last Time Out

Nashville ended the regular season with a 20-17-4 road record following Monday's shootout win over Calgary. The Predators closed out their three-game, regular-season series against the Flames with a 3-0-0 record and moved to 12-8 in overtime/shootouts this season (6-6 in OT; 6-2 in shootout).
Tommy Novak scored his first career game-deciding goal in the shootout, and Juuse Saros posted his fifth 40-save performance of the season. Egor Afanasyev opened the scoring with his first career NHL goal, while Jake Livingstone assisted on Zach Sanford's goal for his first career NHL point. Juuso Parssinen also returned to the lineup after missing the previous 23 games with an upper-body injury.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 43-27-(5)-9 all-time against the Wild, including a 26-9-(2)-5 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the third and final matchup between Nashville and Minnesota in 2022-23 and the second of two at home.
Nashville is 1-1-0 against Minnesota this season, earning a 2-1 win at home on Nov. 15 and dropping a 4-3 decision on the road in the last meeting on Feb. 19. The Predators have won 11 of their last 14 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.

Notables vs. Minnesota

• Ryan McDonagh was named Minnesota's "Mr. Hockey" as the state's best high school player in 2006-07.
• Novak played four years for the University of Minnesota from 2015-19, winning back-to-back regular-season Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2017.
• Assistant Coach Todd Richards served as head coach of the Wild for two seasons from 2009-11.
• Wild Head Coach Dean Evason served as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals - Nashville's AHL affiliate - from 2012-18.
• Minnesota forwards Frederick Gaudreau (2016-19) and Ryan Hartman (2018-19) were previous members of the Predators.

The Good Guys

• Per Moneypuck.com, Saros leads all NHL goaltenders in goals saved above expected at 46.7. He is 29-17-6 with a 2.56 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in his last 52 games dating back to Nov. 12. Saros became the third goaltender in Predators history to reach the 20-shutout mark this season, joining Pekka Rinne (60) and Tomas Vokoun (21). He made 42 saves on Monday at Calgary for his 15th career 40-plus save performance, the most in Predators history and five more than Rinne's 10.
• Luke Evangelista has 13 points (6g-7a) in his first 22 career NHL games after tallying an assist on April 4 vs. Vegas. He also had three points (1g-2a) on April 1 vs. St. Louis and a career-high four points (2g-2a) on March 21 at Buffalo.
• Novak has 41 points (17g-24a) in 48 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. He tallied a career-high four points (1g-3a) on April 1 vs. St. Louis and followed it up with his fifth three-point outing of the season on April 4 vs. Vegas (2g-1a), giving him seven points (3g-4a) in his last six games. In a 27-game span since Feb. 18, Novak has posted 30 points (13g-17a) - tied for the 18th-most among NHL skaters - including eight multi-point efforts. Since his season debut, Novak has tallied the most points among Predators skaters.
• Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Philip Tomasino has recorded 18 points (5g-13a) in 29 games. He has 12 points (3g-9a) in his last 17 games after picking up an assist on April 4 vs. Vegas.
• Cody Glass owns 31 points (13g-18a) in his last 54 games. He's also found the scoresheet in 19 of his last 39 games (10g-13a). He scored his first career overtime goal on April 4 vs. Vegas, and he has established career highs in goals (14), assists (20) and points (34) this season.
• Parssinen has 23 points (5g-18a) in his first 43 career NHL games. Parssinen is 12th among NHL rookies in assists (18) and tied for 17th in points. His 23 points since Nov. 12 - his NHL debut - are the 14th-most among NHL rookies in that time span.
• Colton Sissons scored on April 1 vs. St. Louis to give him 15 points (6g-9a) in his last 39 outings. Sitting at 28 points (12g-16a), he is two from matching his career high of 30, set in 2018-19 (15g-15a). Sissons also leads the NHL in shorthanded faceoffs won (150).

The Other Guys

The Wild are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, coming off a 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. With 102 points on the season, Minnesota has clinched a third-place finish in the Central Division and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Wild have a 21-13-6 record on the road this season. Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in points with 75 (40g-35a), and his 40 goals are also a team high. Marcus Johansson leads Minnesota with six points (3g-3a) in his last five games.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Saturday's game begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley alongside analyst Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Pete Weber and Jay More will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Max Herz beginning one hour before puck drop. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.