The Wild are on the road tonight in Nashville to face the red-hot Predators. Here is everything you need to know before puck drop.
NASHVILLE - The Wild had a chance to beat the Nashville Predators on home ice back in late January but the Predators scored three straight goals and walked away with a 3-2 win in Minnesota.
Back in late November the Wild crushed the Predators 6-1 in Nashville in a game that Connor Dewar notched three goals and one assist. It was also John Hynes' second game as the Wild's head coach.
Since the Wild made the coaching change they are tenth in the NHL with a 23-15-2 record. They rank seventh in power play percentage and 17th in penalty kill percentage since November 28th. They were 24th in the NHL in power play percentage and had the league's worst penalty kill before they made the change.
Tonight the Wild play the Predators who are six points ahead of the Wild. If the Wild were to lose they would be eight points behind the Predators for a playoff spot but if they win they would be only four points back.
It's a huge game for both the Wild and the Predators. Minnesota is 7-2-1 in their last ten games and are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on home ice two nights ago and Nashville is 7-3-0 in their last ten and have won six straight.
Wild Projected Lineup
Kaprizov - Eriksson Ek - Boldy
Johansson - Rossi - Zuccarello
Duhaime - Dewar - Hartman
Lucchini - Gaudreau - Lettieri
Defense:
Middleton - Faber
Brodin - Chisholm
Merrill - Bogosian
Starting Goaltender: Gustavsson
Scratched: F Shaw, D Goligoski, D Mermis
Injured: F Maroon, F Foligno, D Spurgeon
Predators Projected Lineup
Filip Forsberg - Ryan O'Reilly - Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin - Colton Sissons - Cody Glass
Mark Jankowski - Tommy Novak - Luke Evangelista
Cole Smith - Michael McCarron - Kiefer Sherwood
Defense:
Roman Josi - Dante Fabbro
Ryan McDonagh - Luke Schenn
Jeremy Lauzon - Alexandre Carrier
Starting Goaltender: Juuse Saros
Scratched: F Dennis Gurianov, D Tyson Barrie
Injured: None