Wild Game Day number 31 Wild Record (17-7-6 40 pts) Road Record (5-4-5)
Opponent: Nashville Predators (15-11-6 36 pts) Home Record (9-4-3)
Site: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 12/20 Predators 6 @ Wild 5 (OT) 1/10 Predators 3 @ Wild 1 2/26 Wild 4 @ Predators 2 3/17 Wild 3 @ Predators 2 (OT) 4/9 Wild 4 @ Predators 2
Last result: 11/4 Predators 3 @ Wild 2 11/21 Predators 0 @ Wild 4
Tonight the Wild make their first trip to the Music City to take on Central Division rival Nashville. This is the third meeting between the clubs this season, with each team winning once. The most recent meeting saw the Wild shutout the Predators 4-0 November 21st in St. Paul.
The Predators offense has been struggling since the last time these teams met. They were shutout 3 straight games including the 4-0 game vs the Wild. The Predator offense has scored just 29 goals in the last 15 games and has won just 4 times in that span. Bridgestone Arena is always a tough place to play, and the crowd will be ready for the Wild, especially the boo-birds for Ryan Suter.
Devan Dubnyk will again be in the net for the Wild and Pekka Rinne for Nashville. It appears Mike Yeo will be going with the same lineup as Thursday with Jarret Stoll in the lineup and Erik Haula again a healthy scratch. Mike Fisher is getting closer to returning for the Predators, but will not play tonight.
James Neal was public enemy number 1 the first time these teams met, delivering multiple questionable hits. He also delivered the hit the sent Zach Parise to IR. I don't see the Wild looking for retribution, but it could be an interesting subplot.
Let's Play Hockey!