Yahoo Sports Filip Forsberg's 4-Point Night Powers Predators Past Wild, 6-2
Filip Forsberg had two goals and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a spirited Saturday night matchup at Bridgestone Arena.
Roman Josi also had a pair of assists for the Predators, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves in net to earn the win.
The Predators have now won three straight games at home to move to 16-22-7 on the season.
How the Predators lined up vs. Minnesota
Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault
Nyquist-O'Reilly-Hinostroza
Novak-Svechkov-L'Heureux
Jankowski-McCarron-Sissons
Josi-Barron
Skjei-Blankenburg
Wilsby-Schenn
Saros
Annunen
Extra: Stastney, Bellows
IR: Lauzon, Smith, Evangelista
Game Summary
Tensions had been brewing between these two teams since the Dec. 31 matchup that earned Predators forward Zach L'Heureux a three-game suspension for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. Those tensions came to a boil in the opening frame, when the teams racked up 36 total penalty minutes, including three fights in the first 6:24.
First, L'Heureux answered for his actions when he and former Predators forward Yakov Trenin dropped the gloves at the 1:54 mark. Then, on the ensuing face-off, Predators defenseman Luke Schenn and Wild forward Marcus Foligno scrapped in a heavyweight tilt. Four minutes later, Predators forward Mark Jankowski fought with former Predators forward Ryan Hartman. Jankowski later left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Amid all the fisticuffs, the Predators and the Wild managed to score some goals. Minnesota defenseman David Jiricek got things started with his first goal of the season to put the Wild up, 1-0, at 6:23. Two minutes later, Colton Sissons scored his fifth goal of the season for Nashville, diving on top of a rebound from a Michael McCarron shot to tie things up at 1-1.
Minnesota's Brock Faber took a roughing penalty at 15:36 for jumping on L'Heureux, who missed an attempted hit on Marco Rossi, giving Nashville two minutes on the man advantage. Forsberg scored just seconds before the power play was set to expire, slapping in his own rebound with just one hand on his stick.
It took less than a minute into the second period for Steven Stamkos to extend the Predators' lead to 3-1, redirecting a pass from Forsberg through the slot. Fedor Svechkov made it 4-1 just over a minute later, receiving a pass from Tommy Novak behind the net and beating Marc-Andre Fleury blocker side at the 2:07 mark.
Wild forward Matt Boldy cut the Predators' lead to 4-2 at 2:28 of the third period on a shot from the right circle on the power play. Forsberg made it 5-2 at 16:20 of the third when he backhanded a rebound past Fleury's right pad. Brady Skjei scored into the empty net at 18:11 for the 6-2 final.
Key Takeaways & Notes
After snapping a career worst 18-game goal drought Jan. 7 against the Winnipeg Jets, Forsberg has goals in five consecutive games for the fourth time in his career. His power play goal in the first period was the 81st of his career, setting a new Predators franchise record. In Thursday's shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks, he became the ninth Swedish player in NHL history to score 300 career goals.
With his goal in the opening minute of the second period, Stamkos extended his team lead in goals to 16. He now has goals in three straight games.
With a helper on Skjei's empty net goal, Jonathan Marchessault extended his assist streak to seven games. He now has 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in his last 17 games.
Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who is retiring from the NHL after this season, made his 23rd and final start against the Predators and his 12th and final start at Bridgestone Arena where he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003.
Up Next
The Predators conclude their five-game homestand Tuesday when they host the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.
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