Minnesota Wild 2
Nashville Predators 3
The Wild got behind early and couldn’t recover as they lost to the Predators 3-2 Saturday night in Nashville.
1. Early deficit
The Predators got on the board early with a quick goal by Filip Forsberg just 46 seconds into the game. Mike Ribeiro followed up with another goal at 14:11 of the opening period to put Nashville up 2-0, according to NHL.com.
James Neal scored again in the second period to put Nashville up by three goals.
Zach Parise put the Wild on the board shortly afterward, and Jason Zucker scored in the third period to close to within one goal. But they couldn’t get any closer.
Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves for the Wild, which was outshot 39-22.
2. Penalty problems
The Wild played an unusually sloppy game, the Star Tribune notes, with five penalties – three of them coming in quick succession in the first period that gave Nashville a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly two minutes all told. Ribiero scored his goal during one of those power advantages.
On top of that, the penalties were for violations like delay of game, too many men on the ice and unsportsmanlike conduct. Nashville had just one penalty.
3. Record snapped
The loss snaps the Wild’s nine-game point streak. It was the first regulation loss for the Wild (17-8-6) since Nov. 27.
Dubnyk: "it's a long season. You're never going to play 82 perfect games." Called the penalties "fluky plays." #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 20, 2015
Tweet of the game:
.@Jason_Zucker16's 8th of the season đź‘Ź #mnwild pic.twitter.com/tsoNfljgD9
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 20, 2015
Up next:
The Wild host the Dallas Stars on Monday night at the Xcel Energy Center.
