MINNEAPOLIS — The evening began memorably, with the Wild celebrating former captain Mikko Koivu by retiring his No. 9 jersey — the first player in team history to receive the honor.
But the Wild botched the encore, sputtering 6-2 to the Predators on Sunday in front of 19,009 at Xcel Energy Center to lose valuable ground in the Central Division playoff race at the outset of a franchise-long nine-game homestand.
With the win, Nashville matched the Wild's 72 points; the Wild stays in third place only because it's played one fewer game than the Predators. These teams will face off two more times, and both matchups in Nashville. The top three seeds in the division automatically advance to the playoffs.
Despite playing the previous day and falling 7-4 to the Blues, the Predators were sharp enough against the rested Wild to never trail.
Philip Tomasino had the final go-ahead goal along with an assist, captain Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg both scored twice, and backup goalie David Rittich made 26 stops.
The Wild started chasing 8 minutes, 24 seconds into the first period when Nashville converted on its first shot of the game, a deflection by Forsberg that eluded Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
Before the period ended, the Wild pulled even on a goal-line shot from Matt Boldy at 13:03 that counted as the rookie's 12th goal of the season. Boldy has 14 points in his last 15 games and with an assist on the play, Kevin Fiala pushed his point streak to seven games while tying his career high in points (54) set in 2019-20.
The same script played out in the second, with the Wild falling behind again before catching up.
Josi broke the tie 8:44 into the period after he skated through the middle of the Wild's zone before unleashing a backhander behind Kahkonen, who was starting a second consecutive game.
Then, at 11:10, Jordan Greenway delivered his own solo show by scoring off the rush to snap a 22-game goalless drought.
But the Predators answered back and quickly.
On the very next shift, they charged into Wild territory where Tomasino pounced on a rebound at 12 minutes. Nick Cousins' assist was his second of the game.
In the aftermath, the Wild went to the power play seeking another equalizer but the Wild fizzled in its setup and didn't even put a shot on net; instead, Nashville had the lone look in the two-minute span.
As for the Predators, who blocked X shots, they capitalized once in three tries and that goal was timely.
Just 1:05 into the third period, Josi scored his second of the night on a point shot that doubled Nashville's cushion. Forsberg (17:42) and Cousins (19:31) padded that lead with empty-net goals. Josi assisted on both goals to finish with four points. Kahkonen had 19 saves in his sixth consecutive loss.
Overall, the Wild power play went 0-for-4 after also blanking on a chance later in the third period.
This was a familiar letdown; although the Wild managed a power play goal in each of its previous three games, the unit has still struggled to produce at opportune moments. Against the Predators, both units even had a tough time getting the puck to the net; the Wild totaled only two shots on the power play.
And for the first time in nine games, Kirill Kaprizov did not pick up a point to end an eight-game point streak that tied the longest of his career.
