NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The number of shots, both for and against, was much more flattering for the Wild.
Their power play continued to deliver, and the goaltending remained steady despite a different face taking over the crease.
But these positives couldn't overcome a string of costly lapses, and the Wild fell 4-2 to the Predators on Monday at Bridgestone Arena to suffer their second regulation defeat in a 1-2-2 start.
Unlike their previous outcome, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday in which the Wild surrendered an eye-popping 57 shots and were dominated for much of regulation, this result was an accurate read on the action.
The Wild were competitive, showing flashes of a resiliency that has propelled them to wins in the past, but any progress they seemed to make on the ice was undermined by poor decision-making.
That's what widened the gap in the second period.
Tied at 1 and during the waning seconds of a power play, the Wild turned the puck over in the offensive zone.
As the Predators transitioned up ice, eventually gaining an extra man to get back to full strength, Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm joined the rush unnoticed and had ample time to accept a drop pass and sling it by Wild backup Alex Stalock 3 minutes, 51 seconds into the period.
Another breakdown later in the period upped the Wild's deficit.
An errant pass by center Eric Staal was scooped up by Predators center Kyle Turris, and he sprung winger Filip Forsberg for a breakaway _ which Forsberg buried at 12:02.
Only 3:01 after that, the Wild responded when captain Mikko Koivu slapped in a one-timer in-tight for his first goal of the season and second point of the night.
The Wild rediscovered that pushback in the third, and their bid at a comeback wasn't extinguished until an empty-netter by winger Miikka Salomaki with 11 seconds remaining.
They also had that moxie earlier in the game.
Like Saturday, the Wild were overwhelmed at the beginning of the first and was outshot 7-0 at one point.
Stalock, in his first start of the season while No. 1 Devan Dubnyk rested up for the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday at home against the Coyotes, made a handful of stops on the team's first penalty kill _ including a couple off wind-ups from the blue line.
But near the end of that advantage for the Predators, they capitalized when winger Craig Smith put back the rebound off a P.K. Subban shot 6:01 into the period.
On their next look with an extra attacker, the Wild tied it on a blistering one-timer from defenseman Matt Dumba deep in the slot on his second tally of the season.
The goal was set up by Koivu and winger Zach Parise, who also assisted on Koivu's goal in the third. Overall, Parise has six assists in his last three games and leads the Wild in points with seven.
Dumba's goal was also the third power-play tally for the team in the last two games. It went 1-for-4, while the Predators were 1-for-3.
Nine shots-against while short-handed was an improvement from the 22 the Wild gave up to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Nashville also didn't get anywhere close to Carolina's total shot output, getting capped at 28 with Stalock posting 24 saves.
And the Wild made goalie Pekka Rinne work to turn aside 29 shots.
But this improvement didn't register where it matters most, in the win column.
