Game Day: Preds at Wild Preview

After falling to St. Louis on Saturday afternoon to begin a back-to-back set, the Nashville Predators will try for a victory this evening when they face the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Tonight's contest is the second of four meetings between the two divisional foes this season; Nashville defeated Minnesota back in October, and the Preds will host the Wild twice in April.
The Predators had defeated Dallas and Anaheim to start the week and a three-game homestand, but a back-and-forth affair on Saturday ended with the Blues potting the game-winner with less than three minutes to play to keep Nashville from recording a point.

Despite the result, the Preds weren't dissatisfied with most of their effort on Saturday, and now, they're eager to build on that showing with another chance tonight against a Minnesota club that sits just one point ahead of them in the standings.
"We know the stakes are high and how important points are, but I don't think it's something we're going to dwell on," Preds centerman Ryan Johansen said following Saturday's loss. "We've got to find a way to win games and be a little bit better, so we'll be trying to do that tomorrow in Minnesota."
"I thought we played a good game," Preds forward Matt Duchene said Saturday. "We showed a lot of resiliency. They're a good team… but that one stings just because we played such a good game and had so many good looks. We feel like we should have won that game. We'll lick our wounds here for a little bit and then get ready for tomorrow, but the great news is our game is in order and we're doing a lot of good things."
Nashville's lineup remained unchanged throughout the three-game homestand. Defenseman Mark Borowiecki (day-to-day) remained out, and forward Matt Luff, as well as blueliner Philippe Myers, were scratched. The Predators are not expected to hold a morning skate in Minnesota ahead of the second half of their back-to-back set tonight.

The Good Guys:

Matt Duchene scored twice to tie his career-high of 31 goals, but the Predators fell to the Blues by a 7-4 final. Ryan Johansen (15) and Filip Forsberg (29) also tallied on the afternoon, and goaltender Juuse Saros made 28 saves but ultimately took his 18th loss of the season.
Preds Captain Roman Josi continues to lead the team in points with 61 (15g-46a), followed by Duchene with 54 (29-25a) and Forsberg with 49 (28g-21a). Former Wild forward Mikael Granlund has 43 points (9g-34a), Johansen has 41 points (14g-27a) and Tanner Jeannot has 33 points (18g-15a). Saros is 28-18-3 in net; netminder David Rittich is 4-2-1.

The Opposition:

The Wild have lost three of their last five including a 3-2 shootout loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday evening. Kirill Kaprizov leads his club with 73 points (30g-43a), followed by Mats Zuccarello with 60 (19g-41a) and former Preds forward Kevin Fiala with 53 (20g-33a). Another former Preds winger, Ryan Hartman, has 23 goals and 43 points for the Wild. Goaltentender Cam Talbot is 22-12-1 in net.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 40-26-(5)-8 all-time against the Wild, including a 16-17-(3)-4 record on the road. The Predators are 4-1-0 in their last five games vs. the Wild; they are 8-2-0 in their last 10; and 3-2-0 in their last five on the road.
The Predators have won eight of their last nine games vs. the Wild, a stretch that included a seven-game win streak from March 27, 2018-Oct. 24, 2019. Nashville allowed two-or-fewer goals in six of those seven wins.

Notables Versus Minnesota:

Filip Forsberg scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 8, 2013 vs. Minnesota. Forsberg's 13 goals against the Wild are the third-most he's scored against a single opponent in his NHL career. Ryan Johansen has 22 points (7g-15a) in 29 career games vs. the Wild, including 12 points (5g-7a) in his last 12 meetings. He scored twice in Nashville's win at Minnesota on Oct. 24.
Matt Duchene has recorded 27 points (7g-20a) in 47 career games against the Wild. Mikael Granlund was acquired from Minnesota in February 2019; he played parts of seven seasons for the Wild from 2012-19 and posted 93 goals and 317 points.
Luke Kunin was drafted 15th overall by the Wild in the 2016 NHL Draft. Kunin appeared in 131 games for Minnesota from 2017-20, tallying 52 points (23g-29a). Wild Head Coach Dean Evason served as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals - Nashville's AHL affiliate - from 2012-18. Minnesota forwards Kevin Fiala (2015-19), Frederick Gaudreau (2016-19) and Ryan Hartman (2018-19) were previous members of the Predators.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for this evening's 6 p.m. CT start from Minnesota begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Lyndsay Rowley have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 5 p.m. with Darren McFarland.