The Latest Breaking News from Nashville

TAMPA, Fla. — When he’s at his best, Nikita Kucherov can bring out the most in his teammates.

The Stars want to play playoff hockey. Tuesday night against the Lightning was a good preview.

MINNEAPOLIS — The evening began memorably, with the Wild celebrating former captain Mikko Koivu by retiring his No. 9 jersey — the first player in team history to receive the honor.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Blues let a 3-0 lead slip away, regained it at 4-3, let that one get away, before Robert Thomas scored his fourth goal in the past two games as the Blues won a Central Division showdown, 7-4, over the Predators on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.

The Florida Panthers held three separate leads Tuesday, including a two-goal lead in the second period and a one-goal lead with less than 10 minutes remaining. They fired 48 shots at David Rittich and even successfully challenged a Nashville Predators goal in the third.

DALLAS — As Luke Glendening streaked up the ice in concert with Michael Raffl, you could hear the refrain echo from the past few years of Rick Bowness’ tenure as the Stars’ head coach: “We create offense from defense.”