Predators at Wild
The Minnesota Wild healed some bumps and bruises during their pronounced break in their schedule, but business is about to pick up for coach Bruce Boudreau's club. With a four-day respite between games now concluded, the Wild will play the first of three contests in a four-day stretch on Saturday when they host the Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators.
"I think you could tell they're tired of practicing," Boudreau said on Friday. "They're tired of sitting on the sidelines and we want to be involved in this thing. ... I hope we got some rest, I hope we got some enthusiasm and I hope we got some good practice time in. Those are the three things we wanted to do." The Wild are 10-4-1 in their last 15 outings overall and have won two of three meetings this season versus the Predators, who saw their franchise-best 14-0-1 run come to a halt with Thursday's 5-2 setback to Toronto. "I think you look at this stretch we've had with 15 games with points, and we've been squeaking out wins and finding ways to win, but that's not playoff hockey," Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "We've gotten away with that for some time, but it finally caught up with us playing a really good team."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Tennessee (Nashville), FS North-Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (48-15-10): Viktor Arvidsson scored versus the Maple Leafs to extend his point streak to three games and boost his point total to 19 (nine goals, 10 assists) in his last 16 contests. The 24-year-old Swede has collected three points (two goals, one assist) versus the Wild, trailing only Ryan Johansen (one goal, three assists) and defenseman P.K. Subban (two goals, two assists) in the season series. Pekka Rinne doesn't have as fond of memories, as he owns an 0-2-0 mark with a 4.09 goals-against average versus Minnesota this season.
ABOUT THE WILD (41-24-8): Zach Parise scored his second goal in three games and sixth this month during Monday's 4-3 overtime setback to Los Angeles, and that offense hasn't been in short supply against Nashville. Parise has recorded 12 goals and 19 points in 25 career encounters with the Predators while fellow 33-year-old Eric Staal has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 21 matches. Staal netted his team-leading 39th goal versus the Kings, moving him within one of his first 40-goal season since 2008-09 and within three of Marian Gaborik's franchise record.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota RW Mikael Granlund netted his second career hat trick in a 4-2 win over Nashville on Dec. 29, upping his career total to 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 21 encounters.
2. Predators C Calle Jarnkrok has been held off the scoresheet in four straight contests on the heels of a five-game point streak.
3. The Central Division rivals will reconvene in Nashville on Tuesday night to conclude their season series.