Blake Coleman scored the go-ahead goal on the power play to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 victory against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.
Nick Foligno opened the scoring for the Wild at 9:35 of the first period, beating the goaltender with a wrist shot off assists from Michael McCarron and Olli Maatta. Minnesota doubled its advantage four minutes later when Coleman gathered feeds from Bobby Brink and Danila Yurov to net a power-play wrist shot at 13:48.
Nashville cut the deficit in half midway through the second period. Roman Josi hammered a slap shot past the goaltender at 9:23, assisted by Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos. Minnesota restored its two-goal cushion at 4:42 of the third period when Kirill Kaprizov tipped in a shot set up by Quinn Hughes and Jared Spurgeon.
Jesper Wallstedt earned the win in net for the Wild, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced. Juuse Saros made 27 saves on 30 shots in the loss for the Predators. Special teams tilted the outcome in Minnesota's favor, as the Wild converted 1 of 4 opportunities on the power play while their penalty kill denied all four Nashville chances with the man advantage.
The victory moves Minnesota to 1-0-0 on the regular season, while Nashville opens its campaign at 0-1-0. Foligno, Coleman, Josi, and Kaprizov each recorded their first goals of the season during the contest.
Both teams continue their schedules on the road. The Wild visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, October 20, while the Predators travel to face the Boston Bruins on Thursday, October 22.
