Winger Kevin Fiala's first home game with the Wild was also his first meeting with his former team, and those circumstances coincided with Fiala's most assertive performance to date in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Predators Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.
"I thought he had a couple great chances," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Hopefully at some point, he's going to put those in. He put some great moves out to get there. I still think a lot of our forwards sometimes cheat to try to get goals. He's not by himself. There's a whole lot of guys that do that."
Fiala's four shots were tied for the most on the Wild, and he logged 19 minutes, 4 seconds of ice time – his highest in three games since he was traded from Nashville to the Wild in exchange for forward Mikael Granlund last Monday.
"I was close there a couple times," Fiala said. "But the goalie, [Juuse Saros], he's a good goalie. I know that. Today he got lucky, and next game let's see."
That reunion will come quickly, as Fiala and the Wild will be in Nashville to take on the Predators Tuesday – a trip that Fiala expects will stir up more emotion.
"It was fun to play against them instead of waiting till next season," he said.
The evening was also special for Granlund, who was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd after a video tribute played during a first-period TV timeout.
"It was awesome to see the way the fans reacted to that," he said. "It felt good. It was a good feeling."
