On the night that the Minnesota Wild retired Mikko Koivu’s No. 9 jersey, their goaltending let them down in a 6-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Sunday was supposed to be a special night for the Wild as Koivu became the first player to have his number retired in franchise history. The evening kicked off with a pregame ceremony that left Koivu in tears as his jersey was raised to the rafters.
Into the @mnwild rafters forever. đź’š pic.twitter.com/FKxmlXUkZ7
— NHL (@NHL) March 13, 2022
Once the puck dropped, the Wild were locked in an important battle in the Central Division. Minnesota entered the night two points ahead of the Predators in the standings and needed a win to establish momentum down the stretch.
Things got off to a rough start when Filip Forsberg put Nashville on the board but Matt Boldy responded with his 12th goal of the season to tie things up at 1-1.
12TH GOAL OF THE SEASON FOR NUMBER 12. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/xDvMte3HSH
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 14, 2022
Nashville regained the lead in the second period on a goal from Roman Josi, but Minnesota answered again with Jordan Greenway’s fifth goal of the year.
MAKE WAY FOR THE BIG RIG đźš› #mnwild pic.twitter.com/c2Q4l8cy0N
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 14, 2022
But the pendulum eventually stopped swinging the Wild’s way. Minnesota’s struggles in net continued as Kaapo Kahkonen allowed a goal from Philip Tomasino to give Nashville a 3-2 lead.
After Jared Spurgeon picked up a slashing penalty toward the end of the third period, the Predators took advantage of the Wild’s struggling penalty kill with a power play marker from Josi to make it 4-2.
The goal finished a tough night for Kakohnen, who allowed four goals on just 23 shots. With the Wild unable to climb back into the game, Nashville added empty net goals from Forsberg and Nick Cousins to throw some water on a big night.
https://twitter.com/OhHiTony/status/1503177645143601162
The loss was the Wild’s 10th in the past 14 games and allowed Nashville to tie them in the standings. With the Wild reeling, they’ll look to get back in the win column when they host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
