ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild will have to wait until the new year to rediscover their winning ways at home.

Before turning over Grand Casino Arena to the World Junior Championship and simultaneously going on a seven-game road trip, the Wild were downed by the Predators, 3-2 in overtime, but will remain third in the NHL going into the holiday break.

Steven Stamkos broke a 2-2 tie 53 seconds into 3-on-3 OT, crashing the net to redirect in a pass from former Wild forward Erik Haula after a parade of penalties in the first and second had the Wild rallying.

Joel Eriksson Ek delivered the equalizer, and Brock Faber also scored in his 200th career game. Filip Gustavsson finished with 26 saves as his five-game win streak came to a halt; Nashville’s Juuse Saros made 30 stops.

This is two losses in a row for the Wild, who previously had their seven-game win streak end in a fatigue-fueled 5-1 letdown to the Avalanche.

Zach Bogosian was back in action for the Wild after the veteran missed the past four games hurt. Fellow defenseman Daemon Hunt is the only Wild player currently injured.

How it happened

After a day off following the Colorado game, the Wild started with better energy and pace in their play.

Case in point: Quinn Hughes cut through the neutral zone before accepting a return pass and dropping the puck to Faber for a seeing-eye one-timer 7 minutes into the first period.

But the Wild were trailing Nashville before the period ended because the Predators cashed in on two power plays.

First, Gustavsson denied a between-the-legs attempt from Luke Evangelista, but Ryan O’Reilly backhanded in the rebound at 14:28.

Then 2:39 later, Roman Josi flung a puck by Gustavsson’s glove from outside the top of the circles.

That deficit, though, didn’t stick with the Wild for long.

Just 52 seconds into the second period and during a delayed Nashville penalty, Eriksson Ek sent both teams back to the drawing board when he got on the end of a rebound for his fifth goal in the last nine games.

The Wild didn’t stay out of the penalty box the rest of the night.

In fact, they put the Predators on the power play two more times, the latter offense (a high stick by captain Jared Spurgeon) negating what would have been a breakaway for Matt Boldy.

But the Wild’s penalty kill finally fended off the pressure and actually earned the Wild momentum, with Gustavsson turning aside four shots on Nashville’s last chance; the Wild power play was 0 for 2, although Eriksson Ek’s goal came in a 6-on-5 situation.

Turning point

A high stick against Ryan Hartman went uncalled late in the third period, costing the Wild a power play.

In overtime, Gustavsson stopped Stamkos’ first try to get a whistle.

But the Wild lost the ensuing faceoff, the Predators seized possessed and eventually set up Stamkos for a do-over that he didn’t miss.

Key stat

This is the first time the Wild have dropped back-to-back home games since Oct. 28-30.

What it means

Despite a wide gap between the two teams in the standings, the Predators challenged the Wild.

They funneled pucks and bodies in front of Gustavsson, and Nashville’s forecheck prevented the Wild from easily exiting their zone. As a result, it was tough for the Wild to transition with speed, and they had to battle for their own zone time.

The timeout in the schedule is likely coming at a good time for the Wild to rest up and recharge to keep up with Colorado and Dallas atop the NHL.

Up next

After a three-day hiatus for the holidays, the Wild start their seven-game trek Dec. 27 at Winnipeg.

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