When the Minnesota Wild beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 on Dec. 10, marking a seven-game win streak, they never could have imagined what would follow: A winless streak of eight games and counting after dropping yet another game on Wednesday night, a 2-1 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
Once the top team in the NHL, the Wild now find themselves in sixth place in the Western Conference after getting blanked in a shootout against the Predators. In the shootout, Matt Cullen missed, Mikko Koivu was blocked and Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed the net to end another disappointing night for the Wild.
The shootout misfires were hardly a surprise given that the Wild managed 22 shots in the first two periods against Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne without slotting a single one past the goaltender. Dany Heatley finally broke through with just under four minutes remaining in regulation on a goal assisted by Nate Prosser and Mikko Koivu to even the score at 1-1 after Jonathon Blum beat Josh Harding earlier in the third period.
Minnesota will not have time to rest up, as they head back home to face the 15-17-3 Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night in a game scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. eastern time.