Nashville Predators 3, Minnesota Wild 4: Last-second comeback falls short

The Nashville Predators headed north for a high-stakes game in the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Wild were working to defend their wild-card spot from the Preds, right behind them in the standings; the Preds, meanwhile, were—in theory—working to claim it.

Minnesota got out to a strong start. Jeremy Lauzon drew a penalty by falling down and the Preds got an early chance on the power play, but Joel Eriksson Ek got a phenomenal shorthanded chance on the breakaway and caused Juuse Saros to lose his stick making the save, setting the Wild up for an extended and nervewracking shorthanded sequence. Saros was again tasked to make another massive save on Connor Dewar, and Nino Niederreiter saved the…