Coleman nets first goal in Wild uniform in 3-1 win over Predators

by Bryan Zollman, Let’s Play Hockey

The Wild got off the start they wanted with a 3-1 win over Nashville Thursday.

It was the 12th time the Wild have opened the season on the road and the win improved them to 15-9-1-1 in franchise history overall.

The Wild got some much-needed production from their fourth line and Blake Coleman scored his first goal in a Wild uniform. The newcomer has four 20-goal seasons and got off to a great start with a nifty move down low to beat Predator goaltender Juuse Saros. Coleman received a nice tic-tac-toe pass from both Danila Yurov and Bobby Brink to give the Wild a 2-0 lead in the first period.

The Wild scored first when the fourth line hammered home the first goal of the season. Michael McCarron fired a shot on Saros who kicked it into the high slot where Nick Foligno buried the rebound to give the Wild the 1-0 lead.

The Wild had a goal disallowed when Ryan Hartman was called for goalie interference. Bobby Brink made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and a shot by Yakov Trenin beat Saros, but Hartman had his feet in the blue paint and apparently made contact with Saros.

Nashville came out in the second period and played more physical and had the Wild on their heels. They made it 2-1 with 10:37 left when Roman Josi scored on their 13th shot of the game. At that point the Predators were outshooting the Wild 13-12.

The Wild would go on a 13-0 run in shots and scored on their 25th of the game when Hughes stretched across the high slot and fired a wrister that was deflected by Kaprizov and over Saros’ shoulder for a 3-1 lead. It was Kaprizov’s franchise-leading 231st goal of his career.

Jesper Wallstedt made some big saves down the stretch, including stopping Filip Forsberg on a breakaway in the third period. Wallstedt finished with 19 saves. Hughes led the Wild in TOI with 27:30 while newcomer Olli Maatta was second with 21:34. Maatta also recorded his first point in a Wild uniform with a first-period assist. The Wild started out strong on face offs, but by game’s end had won 29 and lost 32.

The Wild were 1-for-4 on the power play and killed all four penalties. McCarron led the club with six hits.

The Wild (1-0-0) will face Boston (1-0-0) at Grand Casino Arena Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Bruins opened their season Tuesday with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers. They play Winnipeg Friday before heading to St. Paul.