Wild anxious to get back to game action

ST. PAUL -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau has had just about enough of the days off.
While Minnesota has been able to use its four-day period without games to rest weary bones and get some practice time in, with the standings tightening and teams closing in, the Wild is ready to go.
"I think you could tell they're tired of practicing," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "They're tired of sitting on the sidelines and we want to be involved in this thing. So it's good that we're playing tomorrow."

The Wild put forth one final practice effort on Friday, one that could likely be its last of the regular season. With its final nine games coming in the span of just 15 days, if Minnesota isn't playing games, it's probably going to be off or have an optional practice.
Included were battle drills and some conditioning, including its patented team shootout drill, where the first team to score 10 shootout-style goals wins.
The winners of the competition then get to watch as the losers go through an extra bit of conditioning.
Friday's match came down to the final puck, with Charlie Coyle and Matt Cullen each scoring almost simultaneously. It appeared Coyle's shot on one end of the rink may have crossed the line a split second before Cullen's on the other end. But after a couple of good practice days, Boudreau was happy to rule it a tie.
For once, everyone got to celebrate.
"I hope we got some rest, I hope we got some enthusiasm and I hope we got some good practice time in," Boudreau said. "Those are the three things we wanted to do."

Minnesota's conclusion to the regular season begins on home ice on Saturday when it faces the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators, who lost in regulation for the first time in more than a month on Thursday.
Like last season, when Nashville rode a wave of momentum all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, the Predators appear to be peaking at the right time.
From Feb. 18-March 19, the Predators ran up a 14-0-1 record, a stretch that was snapped with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bridgestone Arena Thursday.
"I hope they don't ramp it up too much more. They went 15 in a row with a point so if they ramp it up too much more it's going to be difficult to play against them," Boudreau said. "But every game we've ever played against them we know how hard they work and how tough it is and that if you don't have your A-game you're never going to win."
The Predators are one of two teams in the NHL and the only one in the Western Conference to have clinched a berth in the playoffs. At 106 points, they sit eight points clear of the Winnipeg Jets for the top spot in the division and six better than the Vegas Golden Knights for the West's top overall seed.
The game Saturday marks the first of two meetings in the span of 72 hours between the clubs. The two will reconvene in Nashville on Tuesday night to conclude their season series.
"They pressure the puck really well and offensive, they're tough to play against because in the offensive zone, I feel like they get all five guys in on the play and their defensemen] are diving down," said Wild forward Zach Parise. "You really have to be sharp in your own zone because if you lose your guy for a second, he's diving into the play and they're finding him. Our awareness in the defensive zone is going to be the difference."
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