7 p.m. vs. Nashville • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 100.3-FM
Strong, long homestand continues
Preview: The Wild, 3-1-1 on its eight-game homestand, plays its penultimate game before its five-day bye. The Predators are coming off their bye without the benefit of practicing Friday. NHL teams are 3-9-1 coming off byes, with teams in February being 0-5 (outscored 25-8, 21-3 through two periods). The Wild is 13-4-3 against the Central Division after going 14-10-5 inside the division last season. The Wild is 12-9-3 against Nashville in the past 24 meetings, with 13 one-goal games.
Players to watch: Wild RW Jason Pominville has 18 points in the past 14 games. Leading scorer Mikael Granlund has at least a point in 15 of the past 18 games. C Mikko Koivu is first in Wild history with 133 multipoint games and 80 multi-assist games and has 37 points in 40 career games against Nashville. Predators LW Viktor Arvidsson was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week last week with seven points in four games, including a hat trick. C Filip Forsberg has 14 goals in the past 29 games.
Numbers: The Wild is 38-13-6 with a conference-best .719 points percentage, 3.28 goals per game and 21.7 percent power play. Last season, the Wild was 38-33-11 with a .530 save percentage, 2.60 goals per game and 18.5 percent power play.
Injuries: Wild D Jonas Brodin (broken finger) is doubtful. D Matt Dumba (knee) is out. F Zack Mitchell was returned to Iowa. Predators LW Cody McLeod (undisclosed) is questionable.
Michael Russo
