After a weekend sweep of Washington and Carolina, the Minnesota Wild returned to the Central Division to square off in Music City against the Nashville Predators. With Nashville occupying the first Wild Card spot and Minnesota fighting for home-ice advantage, points are the only focus of both teams.
At 2-3 in their last five, Nashville came in looking to extinguish the flaming Wild, who were 9-0-1 in their previous ten games. To do so, the Predators would have to crack the two-headed monster that has emerged in the Wild's crease. Goaltending duties were handed to Marc-Andre Fleury, who was undefeated in his new Wild sweater and would be debuting new team-appropriate pads.