Minnesota Wild 2, Nashville Predators 1 (SO): Colin Wilson Injured, Fans Boo Ryan Suter

Following a tight defensive struggle through regulation and overtime, the Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators in a shootout, taking a 2-1 decision in front of a raucous crowd at Bridgestone Arena.

Things looked pretty bleak after Minnesota took a 1-0 lead as Zach Parise tipped a Ryan Suter shot on the power play, particularly after Colin Wilson left the game with an upper body injury. David Legwand responded in the third by tying it on the power play himself, as Suter was the one sitting in the box. From there, the teams took things to overtime, ensuring another 3-point game that will only further clog up the middle of the Western Conference pack.

Things got especially hairy in the overtime as Pekka Rinne took a penalty for playing the puck in the trapezoid, something he’s shown a weakness for over the years. That put Minnesota on the 4-on-3 advantage, which the Predators killed.

Random Observations

• Indeed, the lusty boos were out in force for Ryan Suter. At first they lasted his entire shift, then for a while after he hopped over the boards, and then only when he handled the puck, but it was fun stuff. When he took that penalty in the third leading to Legwand’s goal, however, that was a spectacle. The gang in 303 changed their usual goalie chant to “Suter… Suter… Suter… You Suck!” All in all, it was a fun time in the stands tonight, it just felt like Big Time Hockey. That’s not always the case when you have a low-scoring, low-shot affair.
• After Patric Hornqvist got hurt last night, it was Colin Wilson’s turn tonight. As if the 30th-ranked offense in the league didn’t already have enough challenges.
• I guess the bright side is at least the Predators picked the right time to make those waiver claims. Two forwards in, two forwards out.
• Once again there were a boatload of scouts in the pressbox. Who do you think they might be appraising from the Preds? Perhaps a playoff team out there might want Scott Hannan as a 3rd-pair & PK guy? That’s the first thing that came to my mind.
• The penalty kill may have found something to build on tonight, killing three out of four 5-on-4 situations, in addition to the critical 4-on-3 in overtime.
• A real pet peeve of mine is guys coasting over to the bench on a change. Towards the end of the second period, as the Preds gained possession in the offensive zone, Scott Hannan didn’t move his legs all the way from his defensive zone to the bench, bumping into an official on the way. The Preds didn’t get anything out of that possession, and part of the blame goes to the 5-6 seconds lost by whoever was replacing him on the ice.
• It was funny to see Legwand score that tying goal, as I was just dogging him at the time to Kris Martel of The Predatorial. Leggy must really have rabbit ears./

Boxscore – Game Summary – Event Summary

Roll the video highlights…

And your advanced stats…

Nashville Predators

Minnesota Wild

Who is your Predator of the Game?