Forsberg gets 4 points, Predators defeat Wild for 3rd straight win

NASHVILLE -- Filip Forsberg had two goals and two assists for the Nashville Predators in a 6-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Forsberg extended his goal streak to five games after not scoring in the previous 18. Roman Josi had two assists for the Predators (16-22-7), who have won three consecutive games. Juuse Saros made 27 saves.

“Well, [Forsberg] just decided that nobody was going to take the puck off of him tonight,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “When he does that and he gets on these kinds of rolls, we saw it last year. I’ve seen it in the past when I wasn’t coaching him. To see it, it’s fun to watch. I’m sure for the crowd and for his teammates it was really good. He kind of grabbed everybody on his back.”

Matt Boldy had one goal and one assist for the Wild (27-15-4), who have lost four of their past five games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves.

“It’s two teams that don’t like each other,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “It’s always physical against these guys, and it’s fun for the crowd. It gets everyone into it. I didn’t mind the start. Just our legs, our decision making coming out of the zone was pretty poor today.”

David Jiricek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period on a wrist shot from the right circle on the rush. It was his first goal since being traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 30.

“It was nice to see,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Obviously he’s got a good shot. It was nice to see him get his goal there on that 2-on-1. It was good for him that he was a shooter because he’s got a good shot, so happy for him in that situation.”

Colton Sissons scored for the Predators to tie the game 1-1 at 8:22 of the first period on a rebound from the slot.

Forsberg gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 17:29 of the first period on the power play. He had one hand on his stick and chipped a backhand shot over Fleury.

“I thought it was a great effort for pretty much the whole game,” Forsberg said. “We came ready to play. Obviously we knew it was going to be physical. It’s always [physical] against these guys. I thought we answered that really well. We didn’t get down when they scored. We just bounced right back.”

Steven Stamkos pushed it to 3-1 54 seconds into the second period on a redirection of a pass through the slot from Forsberg.

Nashville's lead increased to 4-1 at 2:07 of the second period when Fedor Svechkov scored on a shot from the slot after getting a pass from behind the net by Tommy Novak.

Boldy cut the lead to 4-2 for Minnesota at 2:28 of the third period on a shot from the right circle on the power play.

“It was too late,” Foligno said. “We had some chances that we could’ve [scored]. Saros played great there and shut the door. [Fleury] played awesome, a lot of grade-A’s that again were just sloppy by us. We had chances to get within one and make it interesting but just little details that are kind of lacking in our game right now.”

Forsberg made it 5-2 at 16:20 of the third period when he backhanded a rebound around the right pad of Fleury.

“We’re a proud group,” Predators defenseman Luke Schenn said. “Obviously you want to stick up for one another and stick up for yourself. I think that’s part of our identity is playing sometimes the hard way. We have a lot of guys willing to do it and step up at different times.”

Brady Skjei added an empty-net goal for the 6-2 final at 18:11 of the third period.

Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber returned to the lineup after missing the past four games because of an upper-body injury.

Forward Jakub Lauko also returned for the Wild after missing the past 15 games with a lower-body injury.

NOTES: Faber finished with two shots on goal in 25:10 of ice time. … Forsberg finished with eight shots on goal and 13 shot attempts in 19:12 of ice time. ... Predators forward Mark Jankowski left the game with an undisclosed injury in the first period and did not return. There was no update on his status.