Wild vs. Predators: Minnesota closes out road schedule in Nashville
By Tim Johnson
Bally Sports North . Sunday, April 24. 44-29-5. 151. 7 p.m. CST. 98. 50-21-7. Wild -1.5
The Minnesota Wild set a franchise mark with its 50th win on Friday night at home against the Seattle Kraken. But none of those victories have come against the Nashville Predators this year.
The Wild have a fourth — and final — opportunity with a matchup in Bridgestone Arena.on Sunday night The game is the final regular-season road test for the Wild, who complete the schedule with home games against Arizona, Calgary and Colorado.
Nashville has recorded two wins in St. Paul by the respective scores of 5-2 and 6-2, as well as a 6-2 victory at home, the latter coming on March 3.
Marc-Andre Fleury got the start in net in that game and will do again on Sunday. Fleury got the win against the Kraken in a game in which Minnesota not only set the team marks for wins and points (107) in a season , but also saw Kirill Kaprizov become the first Wild player to reach 100 points.
1OOPA!
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 23, 2022
WE. ARE. THRILLED. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/cBGWHu6IDC
The Wild also maintained its slight advantage for home-ice advantage against the St. Louis Blues in the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. St. Louis beat Arizona in overtime and entered Sunday tied with Minnesota in points, but the Wild are in second place in the Central Division having played one fewer game than the Blues (79-78).
Feelin’ good this morning 💪#mnwild pic.twitter.com/Hjta2EX56C
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 24, 2022
Nashville has not clinched a playoff spot yet and is tied with Dallas in the Central Division. but the Predators currently hold the the No. 1 wild card spot in the Western Conference over the Stars and would face Calgary in the postseason.
The Vegas Golden Knights trail both teams by four points. Nashville, which is coming off a 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday, could wrap up a spot in the postseason with a win over Minnesota combined with a San Jose victory over Vegas in regulation.
Minnesota is 13-21-6 all-time in Nashville and has won just seven of its last 20 games against the Predators overall (7-10-3)
#mnwild lineup without Foligno, Greenway, Dumba, Zuccarello
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 24, 2022
Kaprizov-Hartman-Bjugstad
Fiala-Gaudreau-Boldy
Cramarossa-Eriksson Ek-Dewar
Deslauriers-Jost-Duhaime
Middleton-Spurgeon
Brodin-Goligoski
Merrill-Kulikov
Fleury
Benn scratched
Betting odds
WynnBET has Minnesota favored by 1.5 goals in the fourth and final regular-season matchup between the teams. Minnesota is also favored on the moneyline at -120. The Predators are the underdog at +100 and the over/under for the matchup is listed at 6.5 goals.
Upcoming Wild schedule
Tuesday, April 26: Arizona, 7 p.m. CST
Thursday, April 28: Calgary, 7 p.m. CST
Friday, April 29: Colorado, 7 p.m.