Preds 'Stay Hungry' With 2-1 Win over Wild

Matt Duchene recorded a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators notched their second consecutive home win with a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.
Juuse Saros made 33 saves in net for the Preds, who have now won four of their last six games to improve to 7-8-1 on the season.

Three Takeaways

The RyNo Line
The Predators jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from the line of Duchene, Ryan Johansen, Nino Niederreiter. Niederreiter gave the Preds a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the first period, scoring on a backhand shot on a one-handed pass from Johansen and a secondary assist from Duchene.

Assisted by Johansen and Roman Josi, Duchene extended Nashville's lead to 2-0 on the power play with a one-timer from the left face-off circle that went bar down.
No. 700 for Dutchy
With his assist on Niederreiter's goal in the first period, Duchene recorded his 700th career NHL point. He tallied point No. 701 with the power-play goal minutes later and is now just two goals away from 300 in his NHL career.

Duchene is coming off a career year with the Predators in 2021-22. He scored the second-most points on the team with 86 in 78 games - a career-high - and led the team in goals with 43. Those 43 goals are the most ever scored in franchise history, and they also made Duchene the first 40-goal scorer in Predators history.
Perfect on the PK
The Preds went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill Tuesday, including a four-minute double-minor called on Johansen for high sticking at 15:44 of the first period.
It was Nashville's second four-minute penalty kill in as many games, after the Preds successfully killed a Jeremy Lauzon high-sticking double-minor in the third period of Saturday's win over the New York Rangers.

They Said It

Duchene on Nashville's overall effort in the win:
"Any time you get some wins it's good, but there's still work to do. I think the first period set the game we want to play. In the third, obviously you get in those games where the other team's down a couple and they start throwing everything at you, but in the second we'd like to keep our foot on the pedal. Right now we're desperate for wins and I think we may be starting to overthink a little bit when we're up a couple of goals instead of just staying on the gas and playing loose mentally and playing that aggressive style. Our second period wasn't good enough and we'll keep working and building. The season is a marathon and you want to be peaking at the right time. And our game is getting better right now and it's baby steps, but we've got to stay hungry and keep trying to improve."
Duchene on the play of his line:
"I thought we were good. I think we're on a line that plays fast and hard on the forecheck. We're three pretty heavy guys in the corner and on the forecheck and we're guys that can get over pucks and physically dominate. So I thought we did a good job of that. Obviously the last game was a bit of a weird one, and we didn't have a lot of penalties and didn't get out there as much together as we would have liked to, but tonight felt like a step in the right direction. And just like the rest of the team, we want to stay hungry, keep improving and get to know each other and play well together."
Johansen on Niederreiter's goal:
"Unreal. I don't know how to explain how difficult that is. But it was an extremely difficult play and he made it look easy. And I was really impressed on the ice."
Head Coach John Hynes on the win:
"I thought it was pretty solid and I thought 5-on-5 it was a pretty even game. I thought that they had some strong pushes at certain times and I thought when they were pushing, we were able to defend pretty well. But I also thought we had times where we were really pushing them and controlled the territory in the game so I like that component of it. Special teams were a big difference for us tonight and that's something that we needed. Penalty kill came up big again but it was nice to see the power play get some life. We obviously scored the nice goal with Duchene. But I thought in general we were more threatening, there was more speed and execution and attack on the power play so that was good."
Hynes on the play of Duchene and Johansen:
"I thought Matt looked much more [like] when he's playing at his best. I thought he was moving his feet, he did play with more pace tonight. I thought when there were plays to be made, he made them. I thought when there were other times where you have to live to fight another day, I thought he did a good job with that. But in general he's such a skilled, talented guy that I think when he's able to play with strong pacing and he's moving his feet, the game opens up for him, whether it's individually for him or his ability to make plays to his teammates, and I think it was a nice step in the right direction for him.
I think [Johansen] too has played better coming off the road trip, and I think those two guys are really capable players. They're big parts of our team. You need those guys to be able to play with pace, be driving guys offensively and be able to play important minutes and I thought the last two games for both players have been better.

Up Next

The Preds are back in action Thursday night, when they host the New York Islanders at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.