1. Minnesota must work hard to find offense.
It's a problem made even more difficult by the fact the Wild was without its leading scorer, Zach Parise, because of a lower-body injury. But it's not because of a lack of quality scoring chances. Minnesota gets plenty of those.
For one reason or another, the Wild is just struggling to finish them right now.
Eric Fehr had the puck on his stick all alone after a turnover but missed the net on the shot.
Jason Zucker had a wraparound try that just missed.
A few minutes later, Luke Kunin led a 2-on-1 break but hit the post with a shot. A second Kunin-led 2-on-1 resulted in a shot wide of the goal.
And that was just in the first period.
Ryan Donato had a turnover end up on his stick only to have his shot go high of the net. He also led a 4-on-2 break that saw Predators goalie Juuse Saros come up with a big stop. He also rifled a shot off the post with just over a minute remaining in regulation and the Wild's net empty.
Jared Spurgeon had a near miss on a bad-angled shot.
Saros stuffed Jordan Greenway on a pair of glorious chances from in tight.
It was a frustrating night for Minnesota's offense, yet again, in a game it didn't play poorly by any stretch.
2. They say if you watch hockey long enough, you're bound to see something you've never seen before.
With under nine minutes to play, an unusual occurrence took place. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk left the net because the net was off its moorings.
