ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The first year of the so-called "bye week" has coaches raging across the NHL, particularly because teams coming off of them have won three of 19 games to date.
The Nashville Predators came off its five-day break Saturday and didn't even have the chance to practice Friday because they had to fly to Minnesota.
Still, coach Bruce Boudreau had a different take heading into the latest contest between Central Division rivals: "We're looking at them as a well-rested, healthy team, ... and one of the few teams that have beaten us in this building."
With the Predators playing in-your-face hockey making for a volatile game, the Wild had their hands full later that night but ultimately hung on to avenge last month's home loss with a 5-2 victory.
Up 3-0 in the third period, the Wild gave up two goals 2:09 apart midway through the period to make for a nail-biter until Jason Zucker capped a three-point night with a steal and breakaway goal with 3:19 left. Eric Staal later added an empty-netter.
The Wild won their 39th game, topping last season's 82-game total 24 games sooner. The Wild are also now one point behind Washington for the most points in the NHL.
The Zucker-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund line, created the day after Thanksgiving and unbreakable since with a collective 110 points, combined for seven points with Granlund and Koivu scoring their 17th goals and Zucker his 17th and 18th.
As part of the scoring, Koivu, the Wild's all-time leading scorer, tied Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews for 34th among active players with 600 points and Zucker topped the 100-point plateau.
The Wild improved to 4-1-1 on their eight-game homestand and moved nine points up on the Chicago Blackhawks, who visit St. Paul again Tuesday night before the Wild begins their five-day bye.
Devan Dubnyk was solid on two short-handed rushes that would have tied the score at 1-1. In the first period, he denied Ryan Ellis' breakaway, in the second period Roman Josi's 3-on-2 attempt.
Dubnyk, the league-leader in goals-against average and save percentage, made 37 saves to win his league-best 32nd game and improve to 25-4-2 in his last 30 starts.
He lost his shutout bud 8:16 into the third when Colin Wilson scored on a rebound after Marco Scandella's turnover. Then, with 9:35 left, P.K. Subban beat Dubnyk with a blast, but referee Ian Walsh wiped out the goal because James Neal hit Dubnyk in the head.
Predators coach Peter Laviolette challenged, however, and after inspecting the video, Walsh overturned his decision citing that the contact happened after the puck sailed past Dubnyk. The goalie reacted angrily.
The Wild also got a big boost from Jonas Brodin's return from a broken finger. The mobile defenseman, who was paired with rookie Gustav Olofsson, looked to not miss a beat.
The Wild got a fortunate power play just 2:09 into the game when Harry Zolnierczyk was called for goalie interference when he ran into Dubnyk. But he was actually shoved there by defenseman Marco Scandella.
Nevertheless, 29 seconds later, it was 1-0 when Granlund popped home his 17th goal. After a Granlund-led entry into the zone to Koivu, Granlund went to the net and banged in Nino Niederreiter's rebound. It was the Wild's 13th power-play goal in the past 13 games, although the Wild struck out three times in a row afterward to extend its lead on the man advantage.
In the second period, with the Predators buzzing and not long after Jared Spurgeon broke up a 2-on-1 down low with a great defensive play, the Wild got a much-needed insurance goal.
Granlund gathered his team-leading 13th multi-point game when he drove wide in the zone and served up a perfect goalmouth pass to Zucker. The marker was emblematic of the Granlund-to-Zucker goal in Calgary on the last road trip.
Granlund, the Wild's leading scorer with 53 points, has 22 points in the past 19 games with at least a point in 16 of those games.
The Wild made it 3-0 just 35 seconds into the third. Ryan Suter calmly carried the puck out of his own end and on transition. He took Zucker's drop pass at the blue line, and the puck caromed into the crease for Koivu's to roof for his 134th career multi-point game.
