Minnesota took the ice on the second night of a back-to-back hoping to cement their great start and continue vying with Chicago for lead of the division. The Predators put up a fight, and proved too much for the Wild. Despite an early lead, the Preds hit the gas and didn’t look back; while they didn’t take the lead till the third period, even a point for the Wild would have been highway robbery.
The game couldn’t have started better for Minnesota. Mikael Granlund scored just over two minutes in with a slick between-the-legs pass to himself and dipsy-doodle around Pekka Rinne.