The Minnesota Wild lost its temper on Tuesday night, producing an undisciplined effort in a 6-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
The night began with both teams coming out swinging in the first period. Jacob Middleton and Marcus Foligno got into fights in the first three minutes of the game and Nicolas Deslauriers followed suit midway through the opening frame.
deslaurier and borowiecki go at it now and at this point what are we doing pic.twitter.com/vjKgUWGzXs
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) April 6, 2022
While the fights were entertaining, they came at a cost. Brandon Duhaime went to the box for high sticking which led to a Roman Josi power play goal that put Nashville on the board. After Mats Zuccarello tied the game with his 21st goal of the season, Kevin Fiala was called for slashing.
Nashville continued to feast on the power play, with Ryan Johanssen scoring to put the Predators ahead 2-1. A Kirill Kaprizov cross-check put the Predators back on the power play late in the first period and Johansen cashed in for his second goal of the night to take a 3-1 lead.
After the two teams combined for 42 penalty minutes in the first period, the action continued into the second. Matt Dumba was called for interference after a late check and went to the locker room. The WIld later ruled him out with an upper-body injury.
dumba incoming pic.twitter.com/FCSU52B459
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) April 6, 2022
Nashville didn’t convert on their fourth consecutive power play but as soon as the penalty expired, Philip Tomasino scored to give the Predators a 4-1 lead.
The Wild finally settled down toward the end of the second period, when they went on a 5-on-3 power play. Kaprizov capitalized for Minnesota, scoring his 40th goal of the season to send Minnesota into the second intermission down 4-2.
Second time's the charm for Kirill Kaprizov. 🥶
📺: @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/CLqyKVUD2q pic.twitter.com/kJ3l0LhZT2
— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2022
But despite the milestone marker, it just wasn’t the Wild’s night. Matt Duschene delivered the final blow at 13:28 of the third period, fluttering a puck past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 5-2. Johansen capped off the night with an empty-net goal to record his first career hat trick and sent the Wild off of Broadway with a defeat.
The loss represents a problem for the Wild. Minnesota will likely have to play the Predators, St. Louis Blues or Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs. After falling to Nashville, the Wild dropped to 1-6 against those teams this season.
Minnesota (43-21-5) will look to improve upon that record when they travel to face the Blues on Friday night.
