Season Records

Nashville Predators 10-6-4

Minnesota Wild 12-5-3

 

Ryan Smith #94 Of The Edmonton Oilers Skates
Who will be in goal Wednesday night, Pekka Rinne or Anders Lindback?

The Nashville Predators ended their five-game homestand with a 2-2-1 record. After picking up points in 10 of the last 11 outings, the Predators fell 6-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

There is not much to put Tuesday night’s blowout behind the Predators as on Wednesday they take on League leading Minnesota.  Last night, the Predators fell behind 3-0 in the first period to the Edmonton Oilers.

Playing the Wild is not the best recovery game for Nashville. The Wild have won four straight games and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 efforts. Furthermore, Minnesota is one of the strongest home teams so far this season, posting a 7-2-1 record at home.

Over the summer, the Wild picked up Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi from the San Jose Sharks.  Heatley is second on the team in points with 12. Setoguchi is second on the team in goals with 6 on the season. Matt Cullen leads the team in goals with 8 tallies scored by the center. Mikko Koivu has 13 points to best Healtey by one for the team lead.

Nashville slips from fourth to fifth in the Western Conference after their loss on Tuesday night. Los Angeles moved into fourth spot with their win Tuesday night against the Blues. Edmonton moved into a tie with Nashville, both teams having 24 points. However, Edmonton has played 21 games while Nashville only has 20 games under their belt, thus giving Nashville the edge in the standings.

Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz said the plan had originally been to play both Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback in goal for one game of the back-to-back contests. Now it is unclear who will start in goal Wednesday night as Rinne was chased from the net after the first period of play on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, the Predators placed Niclas Bergfors on waivers. If left unclaimed, Bergfors will be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.  In 11 games played for the Predators, Bergfors had one goal and one assist.