Monday in Nashville, the Predators improved to 5-1-0on the season with a tense 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Filip Forsberg had a goal in the win.
“Obviously it was a tight game all the way until the end,” Forsberg said. “They played good on the other side. Obviously a hard-fought battle but a great win.”
Pekka Rinne got the win on 29 saves.
The game went into the third period with the Preds holding a 3-2 lead and only an empty netter late gave any room for Nashville.
“I thought we did what we needed to do during the course of the game,” Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette said. “When it came down to the last 12 minutes or so, it wasn’t about scoring a goal anymore. It wasn’t about possession or shots. It was about making sure we were defending.”
Craig Smith, Mattias Ekholm and Miikka Salomaki scored for the Preds.
Nashville went 3-1-0 on their homestand.
“They all seemed like close games, and it was a battle. So it was nice to finish the homestand the way we did and start the year the way we have,” Predators’ Kyle Turris said after the game.
Matt Dumba and Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild.
“The effort was fine,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “That looked like the team I’m used to coaching, effort-wise. We made a couple mistakes, and when we did against that team, it costs you. But I thought for a team that was pressing, we had the puck in their zone the whole third period. Like I said to the guys in there, I said, ‘If you can continue to play like that, you’ll win a lot of hockey games.'”
[WATCH: All Wild vs. Predators highlights]
Alex Stalock made 24 saves in the loss.
“Who was going to stop any of the ones that went in? Like, I mean, Ekholm from 15 feet out, a rebound on a power play with an open net and he couldn’t see through it, and the other one was a pure breakaway by [Filip] Forsberg, one of the best players in the League,” Boudreau said of his goalie’s night. “Other than that, he stopped a breakaway that kept us within one goal, and then he made another good save on [Viktor] Arvidsson coming in with about four minutes to go to give us the opportunity to tie it up, so I have no qualms with the way he played.”
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