Predators at Wild
THE STORY: The Nashville Predators have suddenly hit a bit of a rough patch with two straight losses. Nothing better to wipe that taste away than getting right back to it. The Predators will be looking to bounce back when they kick off a five-game road trip at Minnesota on Wednesday. Nashville will have the plane flight to dissect what went wrong in a 6-2 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Pekka Rinne, who had not suffered a regulation loss since Oct. 25, was beaten three times in the first period before being lifted. The Wild don’t have the type of explosive offense that is prone to piling up six goals. But they do have the league’s stingiest defense and are riding a four-game winning streak. Minnesota is in the midst of a six-game homestand and has had three days off to work on a power play that is just beginning to show signs of life.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSTN (Nashville), FSNO (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (10-6-4): Nashville was burned in overtime by the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, snapping a 17-game home winning streak against the division rivals. Instead of coming back strong, the Predators were outshot 13-3 in the first period and never got into the game against the Oilers. Nashville is 6-3-1 on the road.
ABOUT THE WILD (12-5-3): Minnesota has gotten by on the play of its blue line and a strong start from goalie Niklas Backstrom, who is carrying a 1.97 goals-against average. But the offense is beginning to break out with 10 regulation goals in the last four games. Mikko Koivu, who had taken some criticism for his lack of goal scoring, put on a special teams display on Saturday, scoring on the power play and adding a short-handed tally to bump his season total to three goals.
OVERTIME:
1. Backstrom is 7-4-0 with a 3.03 GAA in 11 career games against the Predators.
2. Nashville took three of four in the series last season, winning the last three meetings by a combined 13-2.
3. Koivu has seven goals and 15 assists in 22 career games against the Predators.