Preview: Wild vs. Predators

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By Lexi Gardner
Wild.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild complete the back-to-back games as they take on the Nashville Predators tonight. The Wild look for their third win in a row after beating the Blackhawks 3-2 yesterday afternoon.

Info for Tonight's Game:

Wild Record: 15-4-4, 34 points, 2nd in Central Division

Predators Record: 7-12-5, 19 points, 7th in Central Division

2023-24 Series Record: 2-2-0

All-Time Wild Record: 38-39-12 (23-16-5 at Xcel Energy Center)

Stats Comparison

Team Stats
NSH
MIN
Power Play
20.3%
19%
Penalty Kill
89.9%
74.1%
Faceoff
52.8%
49.2%
Goals For / Games Played
2.33
3.22
Goals Against / Games Played
3.17
2.35

Last Season on Wild vs. Blackhawks

Minnesota went 2-2-0 in its series against Nashville.

The Wild won the seriesopening matchup, 6-1, in Nashville (11/30). The Predators earned a 3-2 win at Xcel Energy Center (1/25) in the second game and a 6-1 win at Bridgestone Arena (2/29) in the third contest. Minnesota closed out the series with a 4-3 win in overtime in St. Paul (3/10).

LW Kirill Kaprizov led Minnesota with six points (4-2=6). C Connor Dewar had five points (4-1=5). LW Matt Boldy had four points (2-2=4). C Joel Eriksson Ek (1-2=3) and RW Mats Zuccarello (0-3=3) each had three points. G Filip Gustavsson went 1-2-0 with a 3.36 GAA and a .885 SV% in three starts. G Marc-Andre Fleury was 1-0-0 with a 2.84 GAA and a .900 SV%.

D Roman Josi led Nashville with six points (2-4=6). C Ryan O’Reilly had four points (2-2=4). LW Gustav Nyquist (0-3=3) and LW Filip Forsberg (2-1=3) had three points each. G Juuse Saaros was 2-1-1 with a 3.23 GAA and a .875 SV% in four starts. G Kevin Lankinen entered in relief in the first game and saved 14-of-16 shots faced.

Wild Leaders Against Predators

  • Zuccarello (1-14=15, in 24 games) and D Jared Spurgeon (3-12=15, in 40 games) lead the Wild with 15 points each vs. Nashville
  • RW Marcus Johansson owns 14 points (2-12=14) in 22 games
  • Kaprizov has collected 13 points (5-8=13) in 10 games.

Predators Leaders Against Wild

  • Josi leads Nashville with 39 points (16-23=39) in 44 career games against the Wild
  • O’Reilly has 37 points (18-19=37) in 58 games
  • Forsberg owns 32 points (18-14=32) in 34 games
  • Nyquist has 20 points (6-14=20) in 23 games.

Recent Transactions

11/25/24
Emergency conditions have been terminated and F Travis Boyd remains on regular recall

11/22/24

Recalled F Travis Boyd from Iowa

 11/17/24

Reassigned D Daemon Hunt to Iowa

Reassigned F Michael Milne to Iowa

Reassigned F Liam Öhgren to Iowa

Recalled F Ben Jones from Iowa

Recalled F Devin Shore from Iowa

11/15/24

Recalled F Liam Öhgren from Iowa

11/13/24

Recalled F Michael Milne from Iowa

11/12/24

Recalled D Daemon Hunt from Iowa

To view more recent transactions, visit wild.com/transactions.

Connections

  • Wild Head Coach John Hynes went 134-96-18 in parts of four seasons (2020-23) as Nashville’s Head Coach
  • C Freddy Gaudreau tallied eight points (3-5=8) in 84 games with Nashville in three seasons (2016-19), while adding four goals (4-0=4) in 12 games during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs
  • C Ryan Hartman recorded 26 points (13-13=26) in 85 games in parts of two seasons with the Predators (2017-19)
  • LW Yakov Trenin was selected by Nashville in the second round (55th overall) by Nashville of the 2015 NHL Draft and recorded 79 points (46-33=79), 162 PIM and six GWG in 283 games with Nashville in five seasons (2019-24)
  • Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette recorded 321 points (119-202=321) in 489 games with the Wild (2001-04, 2008-11). He also spent five seasons in Minnesota’s hockey operations department (2014-19) as an Assistant Coach, Hockey Operations Advisor, Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel
  • Nashville Assistant Coach Todd Richards served as Wild Head Coach for two seasons (2009-11)
  • Nashville Assistant Coach Darby Hendrickson collected 60 points (29-31=60) in 182 games with Minnesota (2000-04) and served as an Assistant Coach with Minnesota for 14 seasons (2010-24)
  • C Tommy Novak played four seasons at the University of Minnesota (2015-19) and is from St. Paul
  • Nyquist recorded five points (1-4=5) in three regular season games and five points (0-5=5) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games with Minnesota in 2023-24
  • LW Cole Smith is a native of Brainerd
  • D Brady Skjei is from Lakeville and played three seasons at the University of Minnesota (2012-15)

Fast Facts

  • Minnesota is 7-4-1 in its last 12 games played against the Predators at Xcel Energy Center dating back to 1/22/17

For more information on tonight's matchup, check out the game notes below.

11.30 MIN vs
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