NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Luke Schenn and Marcus Foligno were chatting during warmups Saturday, but it wasn’t either of them asking for a fight.
Schenn was just as curious as everyone at Bridgestone Arena: what was going to happen with rookie Zachary L’Heureux?
Ever since L’Heureux slew-footed Jared Spurgeon on New Year’s Eve — sidelining the Minnesota Wild captain for weeks — there was an expected payback coming in this rematch.
And there certainly was, with three fights in the first seven minutes. That included former Nashville Predators forward Yakov Trenin fighting L’Heureux on his first shift, Foligno dropping the gloves with Schenn, then Ryan Hartman with Mark Jankowski.
The problem was Minnesota didn’t show enough fight the rest of the game in a 6-2 drubbing by the Predators. This one could have gotten out of hand earlier had it not been for Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 32 saves. Their third-period push was too little, too late. Foligno said the response to L’Heureux was handled well by both sides. But the extracurricular stuff seemed to take away from the game.
“Took some tempo away, and was physical,” Trenin said. “Not hockey. Then they kind of switched to hockey quicker than us and scored. It took some time for us to switch it.”
The Wild have lost three in a row, and four of their last five, heading into a showdown with the Avalanche Monday afternoon; Colorado is just one point behind, so Minnesota could fall into a wild-card spot if they don’t win that one. Kirill Kaprizov, Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin’s return can’t come soon enough. The next four games are against Central Division opponents.
“We’ve got to act fast,” Foligno said.
The Wild acted fast with L’Heureux, with Trenin getting the better of him in a fight. “Just send a message — don’t mess with us and don’t go after our guys,” Trenin said.
IT’S FIGHT NIGHT IN NASHVILLE 🥊
Yakov Trenin takes on Zachary L’Heureux and then it’s Marcus Foligno vs. Luke Schenn IMMEDIATELY right off the draw pic.twitter.com/O31WeQMyQY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 19, 2025
There was an expected push in the third, with Matt Boldy scoring to bring the Wild within two. But the Predators sealed it from there and have now won three straight. Coach Andrew Brunette said he hopes the win serves as a “defining moment.” Minnesota likely wants to erase the memory.
“It was a good start, but then we didn’t sustain kind of how we started the game,” coach John Hynes said. “And then I think there was just a multitude of areas of our game that wasn’t good to me.”
The turning point
The Wild got Brock Faber back, and that’s good news because they badly needed their stud defenseman in the lineup. But Faber found himself on the other end of a game-turning play in the first period.
With around five minutes left, Marco Rossi was exiting the Wild zone and lost his footing and fell. At the same time, L’Heureux was flying in for a potential hit, soaring a little above the sliding Rossi. Faber took exception and went after L’Heureux, taking a roughing penalty. Filip Forsberg scored on the ensuing power play as the Predators took the lead — and the game. It was one of two penalties for Faber, who missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury. Faber wasn’t available for comment after the game.
Soft in the middle
Fleury was the only reason this game wasn’t out of reach sooner, having to make 26 saves through the first two periods. His teammates did him no favors, giving up too much ice in front of the net.
Look at where the Predators’ goals were scored — the slot or crease area. The decision-making, positioning and turnovers caused problems. “It cost us the game,” Trenin said.
The Colton Sissons re-direct on the first goal after Michael McCarron blew by Zach Bogosian. The Forsberg power play goal — a one-handed tip-in of his own rebound. The Steven Stamkos goal, with the former Lightning captain floating around Hartman. And Fedor Svechkov buried a wrist shot from the slot after a Jon Merrill turnover behind the net. It was all too easy to play against.
“Usually we’ve got good box outs, good plays there, good sticks,” Foligno said. “We were a step behind (on) 50/50 pucks — we seem to be a little hesitant right now.”
Win the faceoff 👉 score the goal pic.twitter.com/NKitGjjiB2
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) January 19, 2025
His first goal with the Wild
David Jiricek scored his first goal with the Wild, a beauty of a shot off the rush in the first period; the 27 goals by the Wild blue line are tied for second in the NHL. Minnesota has needed those contributions as their secondary scoring has been spotty at best, especially with Kaprizov out.
The Wild didn’t muster much of a threat through the first two periods (12 shots) before making a push in the third. But Jiricek is starting to feel like he’s showing his true game. I just want to be a 200-foot player and I just want to help on offense to play my game in defense,” he said.
Keep crunching that +/- boy
— Luke Sims (@LukeSimswalker) January 19, 2025
Quick hits
• The Wild called up Dylan Ferguson on an emergency basis Saturday when they found out that Filip Gustavsson was sick. They weren’t sure if Gustavsson would feel well enough to back up Fleury, so Ferguson was there at Bridgestone Arena. Gustavsson is scheduled to start Monday in Colorado.
• Trenin, drafted and developed by the Predators, received a nice video tribute during the second period. He played five seasons in Nashville.
• Hynes was ticked off — and understandably so — after the referees missed what appeared to be an obvious high stick by Michael McCarron on Jiriceck with 14 minutes to go (and the Wild down 4-2). When asked what explanation he was given, Hynes said, “Missed call.”
“I actually didn’t know what happened,” Jiricek said.
• Other than a first period 2-on-1, Liam Ohgren had a quiet game after his latest callup from AHL Iowa. He got put in the top-six, a second-line role with Joel Eriksson Ek and Hartman. It was a tough night for the trio, with Ohgren minus-4, Eriksson Ek minus-3 and Hartman a minus-2.
(Photo of Brock Faber throwing punches at Zachary L’Heureux: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
