The Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators met for the third time this season and the first in Nashville on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Wild had a boost to their lineup on the injury front as they got both Jakub Lauko and Brock Faber back, plus Liam Öhgren filled in for injuries. They were still without Marcus Johansson, Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Filip Gustavsson. The Predators were without Cole Smith and Luke Evangelista due to injuries.
Marc-André Fleury got the start in net for the Wild; their new addition, Dylan Ferguson, backed up as Gustavsson was ill, and Juuse Saros was in net for the Predators. The game started with the Wild but quickly flipped to the Predators, who held control and took the 6-2 win. This moved the Wild to a record of 27-15-4 and the Predators to 16-22-7.
Game Recap
The game started with a couple of fights due to bad blood after Spurgeon was injured due to a slew foot in their previous match-up. Once those fights were out of the way, the Wild got themselves on the board first with a goal by David Jiříček, his first with the Wild and second in the NHL to make it 1-0. Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi assisted him.
The Predators got things going a couple of minutes later with a goal by Colton Sissons to tie things up, and Michael McCarron and Luke Schenn assisted him. They kept control as they took their first lead on a power play goal by Filip Forsberg, who was assisted by Ryan O’Reilly and Roman Josi to make it 2-1 and ended the period with the lead.
The second period was all Predators, as Steven Stamkos scored on a pass by Forsberg and Josi to extend the lead to 3-1. They added one more a couple minutes later on a goal by Fedor Svechkov, who Tommy Novak assisted to make it 4-1, and they took that lead through the rest of the period into the third.
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The Wild got back on the scoreboard early in the third with a goal by Boldy on the power play to make it 4-2, and Mats Zuccarello assisted him. The comeback was thwarted as the Predators added two more goals to pull away. Filip Forsberg scored the first for his second of the game, and he was unassisted. The game’s final goal came from Brady Skjei and Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault assisted him to take the 6-2 win.
The Wild will remain on the road as they head west to face the Colorado Avalanche on Monday afternoon, Jan. 20. The Predators will remain at home with a couple of days off before they host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
