Preview: Wild vs. Predators

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild hosts the Nashville Predators tonight, after falling to the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Sunday.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Tuesday, December 31 at 7:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Tickets: Buy Now
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Preds

Wild Record: 22-11-4, 48 points, 2nd in Central Division

Predators Record: 11-19-7, 29 points, 7th in Central Division

2024-25 Series Record: 1-0-0

All-Time Wild Record: 39-39-12 (24-16-5 at Xcel Energy Center)

This Season on Wild vs. Predators

Minnesota won the series-opening contest, 3-2, in overtime in St. Paul (11/30).

LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-1=2) and D Jared Spurgeon (1-1=2) lead the Wild with two points each. D Declan Chisholm (1-0=1) also scored a goal. G Filip Gustavsson stopped 25-of-27 shots faced in the win.

D Roman Josi (0-2=2) led the Predators with two points (0-2=2) C Ryan O’Reilly (1-0=1) and C Fedor Svechkov (1-0=1) scored goals for Nashville. G Juuse Saros saved 25-of-28 shots faced for the Predators.

Wild Leaders Against Preds

• Spurgeon leads Minnesota with 17 points (4-13=17) in 41 career games vs. Nashville
• Kaprizov (6-9=15 in 11 games) and RW Mats Zuccarello (1-14=15 in 24 games) each own 15 points against the Predators
• LW Marcus Johansson owns 14 points (2-12=14) in 23 games

Predators Leaders Against Wild

• Josi leads Nashville with 41 points (16-25=41) in 45 career games against the Wild
• O’Reilly has 38 points (19-19=37) in 59 games
• LW Filip Forsberg owns 32 points (18-14=32) in 35 games
• C Gustav Nyquist has 20 points (6-14=20) in 23 games

To view 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) 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 8-4-1 in its last 13 games played against the Predators at Xcel Energy Center dating back to 2/18/17

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