Nashville to Conclude Back-to-Back Set Tonight in Minnesota
Less than 24 hours after falling to Vancouver in overtime, the Nashville Predators are set to take this ice once more – this time in Minnesota to face the Wild at Grand Casino Arena. Tonight’s contest is the first of four between the division rivals this season.
The Predators battled back to score two goals in the third period and force overtime last night against the Canucks in Nashville, but Vancouver ultimately prevailed by a 5-4 final. Now, the Preds will shift their attention to facing a division foe this evening in St. Paul.
“This schedule is grueling, and there’s no time to look back,” Preds forward Erik Haula said following Monday’s loss. “There’s ebbs and flows in a game, and you’ve just got to keep going. The belief in the group is vital. When we let that slip, I think it shows on the ice, and we had good energy on the bench. Guys stayed up and we were able to come back like we talked about. That’s always a good sign.
“I mean, this is just a tough stretch for us. Got another one tomorrow, so short memory here, try to just recover and get ready to battle again tomorrow.”
On Sunday, the Preds announced forward Cole Smith will miss 3-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Additionally, Captain Roman Josi was placed on Injured Reserve with his upper-body injury. Forward Tyson Jost took Smith’s place on the fourth line in Monday’s loss.
On Tuesday morning, the Preds recalled forward Zach L’Heureux from Milwaukee (AHL).
Filip Forsberg, Erik Haula, Michael Bunting and Nick Blankenburg all tallied against Vancouver, while Juuse Saros took the loss in net. Forsberg leads the Preds with six goals and 11 points, followed by Ryan O’Reilly (5g-4a) and Michael Bunting (4g-5a) with nine points apiece. Haula (3g-5a) and Luke Evangelista (1g-7a) have eight points each. Saros is now 5-4-3 in net; Justus Annunen is 0-2-0 thus far.
Minnesota snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Canucks on Saturday. Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with seven goals and 16 points, followed by Matt Boldy with five goals and 13 points. Marco Rossi (3g-9a) has 12 points on the season; Marcus Johansson has five goals and 10 points. Filip Gustavsson is 3-6-1 in net; Jesper Wallstedt is 1-0-2 in three starts.
The Preds are 47-29-(5)-11 all-time against the Wild, including an 18-19-(3)-6 mark in St. Paul. Nashville is 5-3-2 in their last 10 overall versus Minnesota and 1-2-2 in their last five meetings on the road.
The Predators have won 15 of their last 22 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.
Matthew Wood extended his point streak to three games (2g-2a) with a helper on Nick Blankenburg’s tally on Monday. The 20-year old forward played his final season of collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota, totaling career highs in goals (17) and points (39) in 39 contests for the Golden Gophers, who earned a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Ryan O’Reilly has accumulated 40 points (20g-20a) in 59 career games against the Wild. His 20 goals are the most he has scored against a single franchise, and he has points (4g-3a) in his last six games vs. Minnesota.
Filip Forsberg has 36 points (20g-16a) in 37 career games vs. Minnesota. Forsberg’s 20 goals against the Wild are the second-most he’s scored against a single opponent in his NHL career.
Nick Perbix, an Elk River, Minn. native played four seasons at St. Cloud State and set NCAA career highs in goals (six), assists (25) and points (31) as a senior.
Brady Skjei, from Lakeville, Minn., played for the University of Minnesota for three years (2012-15), totaling 27 points (8g-19a) in 109 games.
Head Coach Andrew Brunette played six seasons for the Wild from 2001-04 and 2008-11, posting 321 points (119g-202a) in 489 games. He also previously served as an assistant coach (2014-16); special assistant to the GM (2016-17); assistant general manager (2017-18); and director of player personnel (2018-19) for Minnesota.
Wild Head Coach John Hynes served in the same role for the Predators for parts of four seasons from 2020-23.
Michael Bunting is one goal from 100 in his NHL career.
Ryan O’Reilly is three power play goals from 100 in his career.
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
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