Predators vs. Wild: Big Vibes, Top Lines, and the Starters in Net
The Nashville Predators host former head coach John Hynes and the Minnesota Wild in a Central Division game both teams are hungry to win.
Predators vs. Wild: Big Vibes, Top Lines, and the Starters in NetThe game between the 11-10 Predators and 6-10-4 Wild was going to be important already with two valuable points up for grabs between two teams looking to climb in the division standings. On Tuesday the game took an interesting turn as former Predators head coach John Hynes was named the new head coach of the Wild and would be making his Nashville return just two games into his tenure in Minnesota.
While there is plenty of interest in who is behind the opposing bench, this game and these points will come down to on ice execution. Here are three keys to tonight's game.
The Vibes
The Nashville Predators enter tonight's game on a six game win streak after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime on Tuesday night, but the schedule doesn't allow for too much time to get caught up in the wins.
"We're playing so much right now, we have to have a quick reset no matter what the result is," Kiefer Sherwood said this morning. "Obviously we're feeling good. We have some mojo. We're playing with a little bit of swagger."
The confidence the Predators have gained from those wins is changing the way the team takes the ice according to Ryan O'Reilly.
"Mentally we're just lighter. We're going to find a way to win. I think earlier when you're losing, we're doing good things but can we hold on? Now it's like we're doing good things and a couple bad things happen and it's 'Alright, let's just get back to what we're doing'. We have our foundation we can fall back on a bit, and that's so important."
Minnesota isn't have the start to their season that they planned. It's a hungry team looking for a turnaround under a new head coach and players are wanting to impress John Hynes with what they can do. Nashville certainly isn't overlooking the Wild based on their record.
"We've got a hungry team coming in tonight," Andrew Brunette said. "Tonight will test us. It will be the max test tonight."
Top Lines
Minnesota has a roster of offensive weapons although some of those players are still trying to find their stride in the first twenty games of their season. Kiril Kaprizov has six goals on the season, exactly half as many as he had in that many games last season. Kaprizov is playing together with points leader Mats Zuccarello and Marco Rossi, and Nashville will have to be prepared to contain that trio.
Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist have developed plenty of chemistry together on Nashville's top line, and they are getting results. Nyquist is on a nine game point streak, Forsberg has eight points and five goals in his last five games, and O'Reilly has two goals and four points in that same stretch.
O'Reilly said this morning, "It's definitely the most fun I've had playing hockey."
Tonight will be a battle to see which team's top producers can get pucks past goaltenders Juuse Saros and Filip Gustavsson who each started their respective seasons a bit rocky but are playing well in net of late.
The Lineups
Ryan Hartman will be serving the second game of his two game suspension tonight for tripping Alex DeBrincat in the Wild's game Sunday against the Red Wings. According to Dylan Loucks who covers the Wild for The Hockey News, this is Minnesota's projected lineup:
Kaprizov - Rossi - Zuccarello
Johansson - Eriksson Ek - Boldy
Foligno - Gaudreau - Maroon
Duhaime - Dewar - Lettieri
Brodin - Faber
Middleton - Spurgeon
Goligoski - Bogosain
Gustavsson
Andrew Brunette confirmed that Nashville will once again start eleven forwards and seven defensemen against the Wild.
"It was good to get Fabs [Dante Fabbro] back. You don't want him out too long," Brunette said after morning skate. "Schenn has been out a long time, and we just haven't practiced, so it was really hard to get Schenn up to speed. Going 11/7, it's not something you want to do too many times or too often, but I think this week and the last few games it's gotten him some of the cadence of the game, rhythm for the game."
"We've got to be very cognizant, but it's also given other guys some opportunity to play more."
Tonight's lineup for Nashville is expected to look like this:
Forsberg - O'Reilly - Nyquist
Sherwood - Pärssinen - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons
Smith - McCarron - Tomasino
McDonagh - Josi
Lauzon - Carrier
Barrie - Schenn
Fabbro
Saros
The Predators take on John Hynes and the Wild tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game will have the radio call.
