Wild at Predators
Capturing the Central Division title in back-to-back seasons was not seen as enough by the Nashville Predators, who took a significant step toward solving their scoring woes by adding forward Matt Duchene in July. Signed to a seven-year, $56 million contract, Duchene hopes to provide immediate dividends on Thursday as the Predators open their season against the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Duchene, who recorded a career-high 31 goals with Ottawa and Columbus last season, will look to ignite an offense that ranked 19th in the league in scoring (2.88 goals per game) and dead-last (12.9 percent) on a power play that went 0-for-16 in Nashville's first-round loss to Dallas. The 28-year-old joins fellow center Ryan Johansen (club-best 50 assists, 64 points) to form an impressive 1-2 punch up the middle while Viktor Arvidsson (team-leading 34 goals) and Filip Forsberg can also fluster opposing goaltenders. While the Predators resided atop the division, the Wild brought up the rear after seeing their string of six straight postseason appearances come to a halt. Minnesota addressed that end by firing general manager Paul Fenton after just 14 months on July 30 and hiring Bill Guerin to the same role three weeks later.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE WILD (2018-19: 37-36-9, 7TH IN CENTRAL): Zach Parise recorded team-leading totals in goals (28) and points (61) for Minnesota, which finished 27th in scoring last season and was shut out 11 times. To that end, the Wild welcomed Mats Zuccarello into the fold on the first day of free agency and plan to pair him with Parise and Ryan Donato, who collected 16 points in 22 games since being acquired from Boston during an in-season trade in 2018-19. Matt Dumba, who had been sidelined since Dec. 15 with a torn pectoral muscle, returns to a backline that features former Predators defenseman Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (2018-19: 47-29-6, 1ST IN CENTRAL): Duchene's arrival came just weeks after general manager David Poile traded former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban (New Jersey), who exits a stacked defensive front in Music City. Captain Roman Josi, who will be playing in the final season of his seven-year, $28 million contract he signed in 2013, pumped in 41 assists in 2018-19 while his 25:09 of average ice time was closely followed by fellow gritty blue-liners Ryan Ellis (24:00) and Mattias Ekholm (23:21). The 36-year-old Pekka Rinne answered his Vezina Trophy-winning season in 2017-18 by posting just 30 victories -- his lowest total over the last five years.
OVERTIME
1. Parise has recorded 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 30 games against the Predators.
2. Nashville won all four meetings against Minnesota last season, including a 4-2 victory at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 15 and a 3-2 shootout decision at home on March 3.
3. Wild G Devan Dubnyk sports a 13-7-4 record with two shutouts, a 2.16 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in 25 appearances (24 starts) versus the Predators.