Alexander Carrier and Filip Forsberg scored 35 seconds apart to account for two of three unanswered third-period goals for the Nashville Predators, who beat the Wild 3-2 Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center.
Carrier scored 1 minute, 44 seconds into the third period to knot the game at 1-1 and Forsberg scored the go-ahead goal 35 seconds later to give the Predators (26-21-1) a third-period advantage.
Roman Josi made it three unanswered goals 11 minutes, 34 seconds into the frame to give his team a commanding 3-1 lead.
Matt Boldy scored a power-play goal with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the contest, but the Wild (21-22-5) were unable to come up with a late equalizer.
Joel Eriksson Ek got the Wild on the scoreboard first with a power-play goal 12 minutes, 44 seconds into the second period.
Kirill Kaprizov assisted on both of the Wild’s goals.
Filip Gustavsson had 25 saves on 28 shots. Juuse Saros stopped 22 of 24 for Nashville.
The loss against their Central Division is a huge blow for the Wild, who entered the contest on a three-game win streak and just four points behind Nashville and four points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot.
The Wild return to action on Saturday for their final game before the All-Star break, an 8 p.m. puck drop against the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center.
