Josi, Forsberg each scores twice for Predators in win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. --Roman Josi had two goals and two assists for the Nashville Predators in a 6-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

Josi has scored 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) during a six-game point streak. He has an NHL career high 66 points in 57 games this season; he scored 65 points in 69 games in 2019-20.
"The best defenseman in the game,'' Nashville coach John Hynes said. ''I'm not so sure that there's a player that impacts their team and their organization the way that Roman does.''
Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist, and Nick Cousins had a goal and two assists for the Predators (34-21-4), who have won four of their past five games. David Rittich made 26 saves.
"I thought we were pretty happy with the way we played," Cousins said. "I thought we carried the majority of the play. We're a resilient group. I thought coming in here today, our focus was just to get the result, and I thought we did that.
"I thought all four lines fit really well for us, I thought [Rittich] played great and made saves when he had to, so it was a big one to win."

Matt Boldy scored, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 19 saves for the Wild (34-20-4), who have lost four of six and fell into a third-place tie with Nashville in the Central Division. The Predators have played one more game.
"We've got to figure out a way to get these points, especially in these divisional matchups," Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba said. "Four-point swings aren't good for us the other way, so we've got to find a way."
Forsberg scored his 30th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead at 8:24 of the first period with a redirection of Dante Fabbro's shot from the point.
It's the third time in eight seasons Forsberg has scored 30 goals.
"Filip, at least in my time with him, he's an extremely talented player," Hynes said. "You can see the shot, the hands, his ability to make plays. You know, one of the things I think that that should be really appreciated about him this year is just the consistency level and reliability in his game. He's a big, strong, powerful forward when he's playing his best hockey. He's got a great work ethic, he's physical. He uses all of his attributes: his size, his speed, his vision, his shot, to his advantage.
"And that's what happens when you're a really good player and you play the game the right way, you set yourself up to be able to access your skill, and I think that's been great to see from him and it's a reason why he's having a great year."
Boldy tied it 1-1 at 13:03 on a rebound after Frederick Gaudreau's shot was blocked.

The Predators blocked 29 shots, tying a team record.
"They did a good job of fronting pucks and just competing," Dumba said.
Josi scored at 8:44 of the second period on a backhand to give Nashville a 2-1 lead.
Jordan Greenway tied it 2-2 at 11:10, but Philip Tomasino scored on a rebound 50 seconds later at 12:00 to give the Predators a 3-2 lead.
"It's tough when you get some momentum, you get a goal, whatever, kill a penalty, and for them to come down and you give it back to them like that, it just kills you. It drains it," Greenway said. "We've got to find a way to just continue to keep our foot on the gas."
Josi scored at 1:03 of the third period with a one-timer for a power-play goal to make it 4-2.
"It was a really good game against a really good team," Josi said. "I thought it was a great team effort tonight."

Forsberg (17:42) and Cousins (19:31) each scored an empty-net goal for the 6-2 final.
"Are we disappointed? Yeah, sure we are. It's a big game," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We thought we'd been playing right. We'd been trending the right way. We just ran into a team that's playing extremely well."
NOTES: Minnesota retired Mikko Koivu's No. 9
in a pregame ceremony
. … Kahkonen is 0-5-1 in his past six starts. … Nashville defenseman Matt Benning (second period) and forward Luke Kunin (third) each left the game because of an undisclosed injury. Hynes did not have an update on Benning but said Kunin is expected to be fine. … Predators forwards Matt Duchene and Michael McCarron each had two assists. Duchene extended his point streak to six games (13 points; eight goals, five assists). … Wild forward Kevin Fiala had an assist, extending his point streak to seven games (three goals, seven assists) and tying his NHL career high with 54 points (2019-20). … Minnesota forwards Kirill Kaprizov (eight) and Mats Zuccarello (five) each had his point streak end.