Postgame Hat Trick: Predators 4, Wild 2

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-2 loss against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Monday night:

1. Matt Dumba continued his solid start to the season by wiring a slap shot over Pekka Rinne for his second goal.
What a shot for the Wild defenseman, who teed up a loose puck in the high slot and let one rip. In the blink of an eye, Dumba's shot hit the net and had come back out of the net, tying the game at 1-1 13:29 into the contest.
The goal, which came 12 seconds into Minnesota's second power play, marked the Wild's third power-play marker in the last two games and was a nice bounce back effort after the Wild came up completely empty on its first man advantage just nine seconds into the game.
Dumba set a new career high with 14 goals last season and is on pace to shatter that mark early this season. One of the reasons? That massive shot. Dumba put 176 shots on goal in 82 games last season, an average of just over two per game.
He finished with five shots on goal Monday, the third time in five games he's finished with at least three shots on net. With a cannon like his from the backend, the Wild would be wise to keep the puck on his stick.

2. Making his first start of the season, Alex Stalock was good.
Devan Dubnyk has been Minnesota's best player through four games, but Stalock showed well for himself in his 2018-19 debut.
It's hard to peg any of Nashville's goals on Stalock. Craig Smith's opening salvo came on a rebound during a power play after Stalock had already made five saves during the advantage. Mattias Ekholm made it 2-1 early in the second, firing through a screen while on an odd-man rush and Filip Forsberg's goal came nine minutes later on a breakaway after a turnover at the far blue line.
In between, Stalock was calm, cool and collected, playing the puck with confidence; on one Kyle Turris rush opportunity midway through the third period, Stalock came out to the hashes to challenge him and make a save. Stalock finished with 24 saves on the night.

3. The Wild had a golden opportunity to tie the game late, but couldn't connect on a power play in the final two minutes.
Moments after Nino Niederreiter was turned away on a breakaway, the Wild got one final chance with the man advantage and its net empty. Unfortunately for Minnesota, it couldn't find the late-game heroics that have been a staple early in the season.
Instead, Miikka Salomaki scored into the empty cage with 11 seconds remaining to close out scoring.