NASHVILLE – The Wild and Predators shared the ice just two days ago in St. Paul, and that 3-2 shootout loss could help the team in the rematch Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena when the Wild kicks off a three-game road trip in Nashville.
Wild set to finish off home-and-home with Predators in Nashville
Zach Parise said he feels fine after blocking a shot with his foot a week ago but with his status getting evaluated daily, the Wild has winger Matt Read available.
March 5, 2019 at 6:44PM
"Yeah I think you have to make some adjustments," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You see what they do, and hopefully you can make a couple adjustments. But the thing is you do what you do better than what you did the previous night, and usually you'll have success. We're not going to change the whole world for this game, but there's a couple things that you notice that they do really well that you'd like to change."
Goalie Devan Dubnyk will be in net for the Wild, but that won't be the only change; Greg Pateryn is back on defense with Nick Seeler poised to take a seat.
Winger Zach Parise said he feels fine after blocking a shot with his foot a week ago but with his status getting evaluated daily, the Wild has winger Matt Read available to step into the lineup if needed.
This is forward Mikael Granlund's first home game with the Predators since he was traded by the Wild last week; it's also winger Kevin Fiala's first game back in Nashville since the deal.
"He got a lot of chances last game, two specifically in the second period which I thought were Grade-A," Boudreau said of Fiala. "If he can create those kind of opportunities, eventually they're going to score some goals."
In other news, the Wild signed forward Connor Dewar to a three-year, entry-level contract. Dewar, 19, has 34 points and 75 points in 52 games this season with the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League – a team Dewar captains.
Projected lineup:
Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Jordan Greenway
Zach Parise-Luke Kunin-Kevin Fiala
Ryan Donato-Joel Eriksson Ek-Pontus Aberg
Marcus Foligno-Eric Fehr-J.T. Brown
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Greg Pateryn
Brad Hunt-Anthony Bitetto
Devan Dubnyk
Key numbers:
7-2-1: The Wild's record in its last 10 road games.
41: Goals by Wild defensemen, most in the league.
3: Points for defenseman Ryan Suter in his last two games.
8: Points for center Eric Staal during a season-high six-game point streak.
3: Goals for winger Jason Zucker in his past four games.
About the Predators:
Nashville remains only a point behind Winnipeg for the top spot in the Central Division. The Predators have won three in a row over the Wild and four of the last six matchups. They own the fifth-best goals-against average in the NHL (2.63) and are eighth in shots allowed per game (29.8). Winger Filip Forsberg has 19 points in hi last 23 games. He's the first player in Predators history to reach the 20-goal plateau in five seasons.
After letting 135-footer bounce in early, Fleury steadied himself in 5-3 victory.
