Wild at Predators
The Minnesota Wild have been receiving outstanding goaltending and now their offense is coming around as they take a nine-game point streak into Saturday night's game at the Central Division-rival Nashville Predators. Minnesota has won three consecutive games to boost its record to 6-0-3 over its last nine contests.
The Wild has surrendered only nine goals in eight games in December and has erupted for 11 tallies in victories over Vancouver and the New York Rangers. "I don't think anything is different, we were still generating a lot of chances, the puck wasn't going in," Wild captain Mikko Koivu said. The Predators are trending in the other direction, suffering their third straight one-goal decision in a 2-1 loss at St. Louis on Thursday. Nashville is kicking off a four-game homestand, but each of the four opponents currently has more points than the Predators.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Wisconsin, FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE WILD (17-7-6): Koivu has emerged from a seven-game point drought with a vengeance, netting four goals to go with as many assists during his three-game point streak. "I'm happy for him. He went through a spell where he was getting chances, things were happening but the puck wasn't going in," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "It's a good lesson for everybody, younger players especially, that you just have to stick with it." Jarret Stoll, acquired on waivers from the Rangers, won 11-of-15 faceoffs versus his former team Thursday in his Minnesota debut.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-11-6): Nashville followed up an impressive 11-3-3 start to the season by dropping 11 of its past 15 games (4-8-3). The Predators have been limited to two goals or fewer 10 times in that span to fall four points behind the third-place Wild in the Central. “It doesn’t matter if you out-chance teams. We’ve played games where we can sit there and say that we were better with the offensive-zone chances,” Predators captain Shea Weber told The Tennessean on Thursday. “That’s not what matters. What matters is the score, and we’re not beating teams, and we’ve just got to be better.”
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota has won its last four visits to Nashville.
2. Predators G Pekka Rinne has one win in his last seven starts (1-4-2).
3. Wild Fs Zach Parise and Jason Pominville each are riding six-game point streaks.