Wild at Predators
The Minnesota Wild opened the month of December on an ominous note, losing in a shootout at Calgary to remain winless on a five-game road trip. How things have turned for the resurgent Wild, who have yet to lose in regulation this month and will carry a franchise-record 10-game winning streak into Tuesday night's matchup at the Nashville Predators.
Minnesota tied the team record for consecutive wins by kicking off a three-game road trip with a 4-2 victory at Montreal on Thursday before shattering the mark with a 7-4 blitz of the New York Rangers the following night. "Anytime you do something that is a record, it's great," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "The way we had to do it, winning games nine and 10 in Montreal and New York, I think was pretty special." There has been nothing special about Nashville's play this month, following a 9-3-2 record in April by winning only four of 11 games in December (4-5-2). The Predators have lost their last three games at home, including a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Wild on Dec. 15.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin, FSN Minnesota, FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE WILD (21-8-4): Despite missing key forwards Erik Haula and Zach Parise to injury and illness, Minnesota hasn't missed a beat, complementing its superb goaltending by scoring 27 goals in the past six games. “We’ve had both goalies playing, we’ve had every line playing, some guys in, some out," forward Jason Zucker noted. "It just shows no matter who’s in, if we play our game, we can beat anybody.” Eric Staal has five goals and five assists during a seven-game point streak to give him a team-high 28 points.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-13-5): Nashville showed signs of turning things around with road wins at red-hot Philadelphia and New Jersey, only to come home and lay an egg in a 4-0 loss to Los Angeles on Thursday. "Win two, lose two, win two, lose one, win one, lose three -- you're going nowhere in mud really quick," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "We've got to string something together." That needs to happen soon with the next three games against Minnesota and fellow Central Division powers Chicago and St. Louis.
OVERTIME
1. Wild G Devan Dubnyk leads the NHL in shutouts (5), goals-against average (1.57) and save percentage (.948).
2. Nashville is 3-for-37 on the power play over the past 13 games.
3. Wild F Charlie Coyle has four goals and 12 points over the past 10 games.