Nashville earns third straight win at home after fight-filled first period in heated Central Division rivalry matchup.
Filip Forsberg had two goals and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a spirited Saturday night matchup at Bridgestone Arena.
Roman Josi also had a pair of assists for the Predators, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves in net to earn the win.
The Predators have now won three straight games at home to move to 16-22-7 on the season.
How the Predators lined up vs. Minnesota
Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault
Nyquist-O'Reilly-Hinostroza
Novak-Svechkov-L'Heureux
Jankowski-McCarron-Sissons
Josi-Barron
Skjei-Blankenburg
Wilsby-Schenn
Saros
Annunen
Extra: Stastney, Bellows
IR: Lauzon, Smith, Evangelista
Game Summary
Tensions had been brewing between these two teams since the Dec. 31 matchup that earned Predators forward Zach L'Heureux a three-game suspension for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. Those tensions came to a boil in the opening frame, when the teams racked up 36 total penalty minutes, including three fights in the first 6:24.
First, L'Heureux answered for his actions when he and former Predators forward Yakov Trenin dropped the gloves at the 1:54 mark. Then, on the ensuing face-off, Predators defenseman Luke Schenn and Wild forward Marcus Foligno scrapped in a heavyweight tilt. Four minutes later, Predators forward Mark Jankowski fought with former Predators forward Ryan Hartman. Jankowski later left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Amid all the fisticuffs, the Predators and the Wild managed to score some goals. Minnesota defenseman David Jiricek got things started with his first goal of the season to put the Wild up, 1-0, at 6:23. Two minutes later, Colton Sissons scored his fifth goal of the season for Nashville, diving on top of a rebound from a Michael McCarron shot to tie things up at 1-1.
Minnesota's Brock Faber took a roughing penalty at 15:36 for jumping on L'Heureux, who missed an attempted hit on Marco Rossi, giving Nashville two minutes on the man advantage. Forsberg scored just seconds before the power play was set to expire, slapping in his own rebound with just one hand on his stick.
It took less than a minute into the second period for Steven Stamkos to extend the Predators' lead to 3-1, redirecting a pass from Forsberg through the slot. Fedor Svechkov made it 4-1 just over a minute later, receiving a pass from Tommy Novak behind the net and beating Marc-Andre Fleury blocker side at the 2:07 mark.
Wild forward Matt Boldy cut the Predators' lead to 4-2 at 2:28 of the third period on a shot from the right circle on the power play. Forsberg made it 5-2 at 16:20 of the third when he backhanded a rebound past Fleury's right pad. Brady Skjei scored into the empty net at 18:11 for the 6-2 final.
Key Takeaways & Notes
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Up Next
The Predators conclude their five-game homestand Tuesday when they host the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.
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