nashville predators News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/nashville-predators/ Minnesota sports, but different Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:24:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg nashville predators News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/nashville-predators/ 32 32 MN Wild Snag Insane OT Win in Controversial Fashion https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-wild/controversial-mn-wild-ot-win-predators/ Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:23:49 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=71037 The Minnesota Wild are in the process of getting their 2025-26 season back on track, after a two-week stretch of eight losses in nine games to close out October nearly sent it into a tailspin before they ever got up in the air.

So coming off a win over the weekend against Vancouver, the Wild went into their game Tuesday night against the division rival Nashville Predators desperate to start up a different kind of streak. And for 59 minutes and 59.9 seconds, it felt like Minnesota would do just that, even though they got outplayed for much of the night.

Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators starts kinda slow

At the 10:44 mark of the 1st period, it was the MN Wild who scored first on a (surprise) Kirill Kaprizov power play goal that made the score 1-0, early.

Then, after the Preds tied it at 1-1 early in the 2nd period (05:16), the home Wild took control back, via tip-in goal from rookie Zeev Buium, off a point shot from fellow youngster defenseman, Brock Faber. You love to see it.

For the next period-plus, Minnesota shakily held their 2-1 lead. Naturally, with a couple minutes left Nashville pulled goalie Justus Annunen. After the Wild missed an open net twice from long-range, the Predators spent the final 47 seconds of regulation in the MN zone, firing at Filip Gustavsson.

Still, when Joel Eriksson Ek got control of the puck and turned to fire it out of danger with just 4 seconds remaining on the clock, a Wild victory felt all but official… until it wasn’t.

Preds tie game with 0.02 remaining in regulation

Ek failed to get his clearing attempt off the boards and beyond Preds’ defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who got control of the puck, waited a moment, then passed cross-ice to the left slot where Steven Stamkos was waiting for a one-timer that blew past Gustavsson with 0.02 seconds remaining.

Related: MN Wild Nearly Dead Last in Early Power Rankings

To the Wild’s credit, this could have been the demoralizing type of goal that cost Minnesota its much needed winning streak. But that’s not what happened.

In overtime, the chances went back and forth for a few minutes, until Minnesota got a breakaway at the 3:30 mark that lead to one of the crazier finishes you will see in a National Hockey League game.

Insane end to Wild vs Preds regulation leads to even crazier overtime finale

After a Marcus Johansson takeaway, the Wild came down 3-on-2 with Kaprizov leading the rush from the right side. He passed middle to Brock Faber. He then skated through the slot before going back to Kaprizov, who then went back across the front of the crease to Marcus Johansson, who tried to flip it into the left side of the goal.

Unfortunately, the Nashville goal was no longer parallel with the red line, because as Kaprizov’s pass came across, it was knocked off its left mooring. So when Johansson got the puck, the back of the net was actually in the process of swinging toward him.

Johansson’s first shot attempt hit the outside of the spinning net and bounced back to him, so he went to his backhand and floated it passed the red line, where there was no longer a goal in place to catch it. Nonetheless, the referee immediately signaled a Minnesota Wild goal, as the puck hit the boards behind where the net should have been.

The referee crew reviewed the play but didn’t take long to confirm the call on the ice. Essentially, NHL rule 25.2 states that, if a net is knocked off its mooring (intentionally or accidentally) during an imminent scoring opportunity, like Johansson’s above, a goal will be awarded.

Minnesota Wild winning goal explained

Former Minnesota Wild player, now Nashville Predators coach, Andrew Brunette, sat dumbfounded on the away bench, as the crowd went crazy and Wild players celebrated on the ice. Even if he didn’t know the rule, he could not have been all that surprised by this call.

If it wasn’t a goal, it had to be a penalty shot or something. Common sense says that you shouldn’t be able to displace the net when an opponent is about to score. Fortunately for the MN Wild, the NHL rulebook says the same thing.

  • 25.2 Infractions – When a Goalkeeper is On the Ice – A goal will be awarded when an attacking player, with an imminent scoring opportunity, is prevented from scoring as a result of a defending player or goalkeeper displacing the goal post, either deliberately or accidentally.
]]> Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:24:23 +0000 Minnesota Wild Minnesota Wild Looking for Fights in Nashville Pretty Much from Puck Drop https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-wild/minnesota-wild-news/fights-galore-david-jiricek-scores/ Sun, 19 Jan 2025 02:10:41 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=59426 The Minnesota Wild were set to play on Saturday night, but this was no ordinary game. The Nashville Predators haven’t faced off against the Wild on the ice since Zach L’Heureux’s controversial hit that injured Jared Spurgeon, an incident that left a sour taste in many mouths.

A day of reckoning was expected, and L’Heureux has had plenty of time to worry about it. What that was going to look like remained to be seen, but John Hynes’ squad didn’t make fans wait too long.

Minnesota Wild come out ready to level Zach L’Heureux

Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron came out in defense of his teammate prior to tonight’s game. He suggested that the young winger “is not a dirty player.” Of course his track record suggests that L’Heureux is absolutely a dirty player, and the Wild stood up for their captain after he was taken out in their last meeting.

He was going to feel the pain again on Saturday and it didn’t take long. Former Predators center Yakov Trenin dropped the gloves for his first fight with Minnesota.

After Trenin destroyed L’Heureux, putting a couple of strong licks to his head, Marcus Foligno went to work. The Wild’s winger is no stranger to dropping the gloves. He may not have got the best of Schenn but he certainly made his presence felt.

Not only did the Wild decide they were going to pummel the Predators physically, but they scored early as well. While Minnesota’s injuries mount, recently acquired defenseman David Jiricek scored his first goal in new digs.

It wasn’t the last punch to be thrown in the first period either. Veteran Ryan Hartman decided to get into the action as well. Following the faceoff after Jiricek’s goal, he went after Mark Jankowski.

Unfortunately the Wild ended the first period trailing by a goal. However, if there was a question as to what they were going to bring from an intensity standpoint, there was no doubt after the first twenty minutes.

Related: Current and Former Minnesota Wild Head Coaches Battling for NHL Coach of the Year

Spurgeon remains out for the Wild, and L’Heureux remains a dirty player for Nashville. Minnesota needs to get things together at the Xcel Energy Center, but they remain the best road team in the NHL.

]]> Sat, 18 Jan 2025 20:54:45 +0000 Minnesota Wild News Minnesota Wild Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators Started with Back-to-Back Fights https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-wild/minnesota-wild-news/back-to-back-fights-vs-predators-marcus-foligno-ben-jones/ Wed, 01 Jan 2025 02:32:45 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=58681 The Minnesota Wild are trying to steal as many points as possible, with their superstar Kirill Kaprizov out with an injury. Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators are trying to keep their season from spiraling out of control and out of playoff contention for the entire new year.

Those were the circumstances entering the matchup between these two Central Division rivals on New Year’s Eve night. Early on, it became very clear that both clubs came into this contest ready to set a certain tone. Like a… “I’m going to beat your face in” kind of tone.

Back-to-Back fights break out between Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators

Before Tuesday night’s Wild vs Predators game was three minutes old, there were already two players from each team in the penalty box. This, after back-to-back fights broke out between the two teams around the 17-minute mark of the first period.

The first brawl was between veteran skate fighter Marcus Foligno and 27-year-old Predators defender, Jeremy Lauzon. Then, as soon as the puck dropped again, Minnesota’s Ben Jones was dropped by 21-year-old rookie Zach L’Heureux before the camera’s could even get re-focused.

According to HockeyFights.com, the 33-year-old Foligno celebrated his 100th NHL fight earlier this month (regular season + postseason), when he battled in Vegas against Keegan Kolesar, a fight in which voters said he won 26 votes to 3. I’d say he’ll probably get the nod in his 101st (above) fight too.

Ben Jones might want to take some lessons because whatever happened between he and Zach L’Heureux, but it didn’t end well for Jones, who caught a mean right that knocked him off his skates nearly immediately after the camera finally realized what was going on and shifted its focus to the second fight in the first three minutes of tonight’s game between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild.

Related: Minnesota Wild Veteran Center Returns to the Lineup

In the second period Tuesday, L’Heureux was kicked out of the game for a brutal major slew footing penalty on Jared Spurgeon, who needed help getting off the ice and down the tunnel to the locker room.

]]> Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:08:23 +0000 Minnesota Wild News Minnesota Wild Wild’s Jake Middleton Uses Jeremy Lauzon’s Face as Punching Bag in Epic Beatdown https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-wild/wild-jake-middleton-uses-jeremy-lauzons-face-as-punching-bag/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 03:11:35 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=48392 The Minnesota Wild are in Nashville tonight trying yet again to keep their season afloat vs the Predators. Unfortunately, that part isn’t going very well so far (down 4-1 in the 3rd period), but that doesn’t mean fans haven’t gotten a show.

Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton, who just dropped 6’7″ Logan Stanley (Winnipeg) last week, wouldn’t let that happen. The 28-year-old Canadian was thirsty for more violence tonight and found a willing participant in Nashville’s Jeremy Lauzon, who leads the NHL in penalty minutes. Ding. Ding. Ding. Let the haymakers fly.

Jake Middleton Beats Up Jeremy Lauzon

Look, a hockey fight is a hockey fight. Much like pizza, sex and video games, a bad fight is better than no fight at all. But this jam session between Middleton and Lauzon wasn’t just a good scrap… it was one for the books, mostly thanks to #5 in the Minnesota Wild sweater.

Related: Wild Sign Top KHL Prospect Marat Khusnutdinov to Help Immediately

Haymaker after haymaker landed and most of them were from Jake’s right hand; unofficially counting at least 13 successfully landed punches to Jeremy’s 2. The Wild defenseman completely dominated the scrap, but the punches he did take landed nicely. All and all, this fight was a solid 8.9/10.

I can’t stop watching… I’m upgrading it to a 9.1.

]]> Thu, 29 Feb 2024 21:11:35 +0000 Minnesota Wild