"They have a lot of d-men that like to jump up into the play, so you've gotta make sure you -- especially when we're in their zone -- finish checks and don't let those guys get the jump start to get ahead of you," said Wild forward Charlie Coyle. "You've gotta be aware of that. We know what they have."
In the grind of an 82-game regular season, opportunities to get an in-depth look at an upcoming opponent are few and far between. There simply isn't enough time for teams to do deep dives on the next team on the schedule. And they certainly aren't changing the way they're doing things to play against an opponent.
Minnesota won't change what it's doing either, but with four days off between games, the Wild is well aware of what the Predators do well and how they've managed to win 14 of their past 16 games overall.
A big part of that success has been offense from defense.
Two of Nashville's top four scorers this season are defensemen, with P.K. Subban scoring 15 goals and 52 points (four off the team lead) and captain Roman Josi chipping in 10 goals and 47 points.
With 10 goals and 31 points, Mattias Ekholm would lead many team's defensive cores, but is third in Nashville. Ryan Ellis has seven goals and 24 points, all of that in just 35 games played.
