The Nashville Predators headed to Minnesota to face the Wild in an attempt to get back into the wins column. They made it, despite some nervewracking moments.
It started off not very promisingly, as what initially looked like a Michael McCarron goal was overturned as having been played by a high stick. While the Preds were able to keep possession, they struggled to get another good chance; even the power play they got when Zach Bogosian roughed Cody Glass didn’t get them anything, offensively.
The second period started off even slower, before Glass tripped Ryan Hartman and the Wild got a power play of their own. Matt Boldy had a great chance, but Juuse Saros had the save, as well as a couple more in rapid succession on Alex Goligoski, and the penalty was killed off successfully. The Preds then headed back to the penalty kill when Alex Carrier was called for a collision with Boldy.
Saros had to make another fantastic save on Boldy, as well as some more saves on the rest of the Wild’s power play, but with ten seconds left in the Carrier penalty Ryan McDonagh lifted the puck straight over the glass and joined him in the box. That did it, as halfway through the McDonagh penalty Joel Eriksson Ek tipped a shot by Kirill Kaprizov past Saros to get the Wild on the board.
Jake Middleton and Michael McCarron then fought, and, a few moments later, Cole Smith elbowed Kaprizov and Bogosian took exception. They fought, with Smith’s elbowing penalty and Bogosian’s instigator penalty canceling each other out and the teams continuing five-on-five. Late in the period, Kaprizov hooked Carrier, who didn’t like it. No further penalties were called from the ensuing scuffle, however.
The Preds’ power play was cut short by intermission, and didn’t meet with success in the third period either. However, Carrier got a goal–and one that counted–swooping in close to Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson at 1:44. The Wild tried to counterattack, with Saros having to stop a great Eriksson Ek attempt, but instead Filip Forsberg tipped a Roman Josi shot just 35 seconds after Carrier’s goal to give the Preds the lead.
Nashville continued to attack, with Denis Gurianov hitting the crossbar, before the Wild managed to muster a counterattack. It didn’t have the desired effect, though, as a Josi shot from the point got tangled up in a defender’s jersey and snuck over the line, making it 3-1 Preds at 11:34.
The Preds got an extended shift while Gustavsson had lost his stick, but weren’t able to convert again. Minnesota got a chance to get it back as Jeremy Lauzon was called for tripping. A missed penalty against Eriksson Ek, who cross-checked Smith, meant the Wild were able to continue playing with the skater advantage, and with 3:59 left in the game and :41 left in the power play, Wild head coach John Hynes called a timeout–but surprisingly didn’t opt to pull Gustavsson. Boldy scored almost right off the faceoff when the Wild returned, stickhandling through the Preds defenders to cut the deficit to one.
Colton Sissons and his line tried to get it back with a three-on-one, but Bogosian managed to knock the puck away, and the gap remained. Hynes did pull Gustavsson not long after, and Andrew Brunette took Nashville’s timeout. Brock Faber lost the puck twice, but with no harm done: Ryan O’Reilly missed the empty net.
A few shenanigans in the faceoff circle with five seconds left led to no change, and a fracas involving everyone on the ice–even Saros, grabbing Kaprizov out of the general melee–broke out as the final buzzer sounded. It calmed down quickly enough, and the Preds left the ice with the win.