February 15, 2025
Filip Forsberg’s 4-point night defeats the Predators 6-2 Wild
NHL

Filip Forsberg’s 4-point night defeats the Predators 6-2 Wild

Filip Forsberg scored two goals and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a thrilling Saturday night match at Bridgestone Arena.

Roman Josi also provided two assists for the Predators and Juuse Saros made 27 saves in net to secure the win.

The Predators have now won three straight home games and are 16-22-7 this season.

How the Predators lined up against Minnesota

Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault
Nyquist-O’Reilly-Hinostroza
Novak-Svechkov-L’Heureux
Jankowski-McCarron-Sissons

Josi Barron
Skjei-Blankenburg
Wilsby Schenn

Saros
Annunas

Extra: Stastney, Bellows

IR: Lauzon, Smith, Evangelista

Game summary

Things have been simmering between these two teams since the Dec. 31 game that earned Predators forward Zach L’Heureux a three-game suspension for valiant Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. Those tensions came to a head in the first frame when the teams incurred a total of 36 penalty minutes, including three fights in the first 6:24.

First, L’Heureux had to answer for his actions when he and former Predators forward Yakov Trenin dropped the gloves at 1:54. Then, in the ensuing matchup, Predators defenseman Luke Schenn and Wild forward Marcus Foligno battled each other in a heavyweight tilt. Four minutes later, Predators forward Mark Jankowski fought with former Predators forward Ryan Hartman. Jankowski left the game later in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Despite all the fisticuffs, the Predators and Wild managed to score a few goals. Minnesota defenseman David Jiricek opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, giving the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:23. Two minutes later, Colton Sissons scored his fifth goal of the season for Nashville, scoring on a rebound from Michael McCarron’s shot to make it 1-1.

Minnesota’s Brock Faber received a roughing penalty at 15:36 for jumping over L’Heureux, who missed an attempted hit on Marco Rossi, giving Nashville a two-minute lead. Forsberg scored just seconds before the power play expired, knocking in his own rebound with just one hand on his stick.

It took less than a minute into the second period for Steven Stamkos to extend the Predators’ lead to 3-1 by redirecting a pass from Forsberg through the slot. Just over a minute later, Fedor Svechkov made it 4-1 after receiving a pass from behind the net from Tommy Novak and beating Marc-Andre Fleury’s blocking team at 2:07.

Wildcat forward Matt Boldy cut the Predators’ lead to 4-2 at 2:28 of the third period with a shot from the right circle on the power play. Forsberg made it 5-2 at 16:20 of the third period when he hit a backhand rebound past Fleury’s right ball. Brady Skjei scored into an empty net at 18:11 to make the final score 6:2.

Key insights and notes

  • After suffering a career-worst 18-game goal loss against the Winnipeg Jets on January 7, Forsberg scored goals in five consecutive games for the fourth time in his career. His power play goal in the first period was the 81st of his career and set a new Predators franchise record. In Thursday’s shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, he became the ninth Swedish player in NHL history to score 300 career goals.

  • With his goal in the first minute of the second period, Stamkos extended his team goal lead to 16. He has now scored goals in three games in a row.

  • With a helper on Skjei’s empty net, Jonathan Marchessault extended his assist streak to seven games. He now has 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in his last 17 games.

  • Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who is retiring from the NHL after this season, made his 23rd and final start against the Predators and his 12th and final start at Bridgestone Arena, where he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003 1 overall was drafted.

Next

The Predators complete their five-game homestand on Tuesday when they host the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.

Visit the Hockey News Nashville Predators team page to stay up to date with the latest news, gameday coverage, player features, podcasts and more.

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