Nashville Predators (25-21-1, fourth in the Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (21-21-5, seventh in the Central Division)
Saint Paul, Minnesota; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Wild head into a matchup against the Nashville Predators as winners of three consecutive games.
Minnesota has a 21-21-5 record overall and a 3-7-0 record in Central Division games. The Wild have allowed 158 goals while scoring 142 for a -16 scoring differential.
Nashville has an 8-5-0 record in Central Division play and a 25-21-1 record overall. The Predators are 13-8-0 in games they score at least one power-play goal.
Thursday's game is the second time these teams square off this season. The Wild won the previous meeting 6-1. Marcus Johansson scored two goals in the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kirill Kaprizov has 18 goals and 24 assists for the Wild. Joel Eriksson Ek has scored six goals with seven assists over the last 10 games.
Roman Josi has nine goals and 31 assists for the Predators. Gustav Nyquist has four goals and five assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 5-4-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.4 penalties and 10.7 penalty minutes while giving up four goals per game.
Predators: 5-5-0, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.5 assists, 3.4 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game.
INJURIES: Wild: Jared Spurgeon: out for season (hip/back), Sam Hentges: out (undisclosed), Connor Dewar: out (lower body), Vinni Lettieri: out (lower body), Marc-Andre Fleury: day to day (upper body).
Predators: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
