Forward also has assist for Minnesota, which gets 2nd straight victory under new coach Hynes
Recap: Wild at Predators 11.30.23
NASHVILLE —<\/strong> Connor Dewar<\/a>\u00a0scored his first NHL hat trick and had an assist, and the Minnesota Wild ended the Nashville Predators\u2019 six-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.
\u201cI find in this league, it\u2019s kind of a streaky league,\u201d Dewar said. \u201cWhen you get confident, you get hot. Hopefully I get on a roll here.\u201d
Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> had a goal and an assist for the Wild (7-10-4), who have won two straight games under new coach John Hynes. Filip Gustavsson<\/a> made 26 saves.
Hynes was hired by Minnesota on Monday and won 3-1 in his debut against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. He spent four seasons as Nashville\u2019s coach before he was fired May 30.
\u201cI just think we did what we wanted to do, which was continue to build off the identity and the mindset that we played with against St. Louis,\u201d Hynes said. \u201cI thought the guys played with good energy — we\u2019re playing a fast game. They\u2019re competing really, really hard. I think our puck execution and puck decisions have been strong.\u201d
MIN@NSH: Dewar scores first hat trick in 6-1 victory
Juuso Parssinen<\/a> scored for the Predators (11-11-0), who were going for their first seven-game winning streak since Dec. 4-17, 2021. Juuse Saros<\/a> allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Kevin Lankinen<\/a> in the second period. Lankinen stopped 14 of 16 shots faced in relief.
\u201cNot the performance we need,\u201d Nashville forward Ryan O'Reilly<\/a> said. \u201cThat\u2019s not us. It\u2019s disappointing because that\u2019s a divisional team. That\u2019s a big game for us. It\u2019s definitely disappointing, but we have to move on and kind of regroup here, and just get back and keep going ahead.\u201d
Dewar gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the first period on a rebound off a shot from Brandon Duhaime<\/a>\u00a0on the rush.
\u201cIt was great to see,\u201d Hynes said of Dewar\u2019s hat trick. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to score in the League, never mind three in one game, but it was good. That line was very good tonight and I thought they actually played very well against St. Louis. It\u2019s nice when you can get production throughout your lineup. Congrats to him, he certainly earned it.\u201d
Jake Middleton<\/a> made it 2-0 at 14:01, scoring on a backhand from the left circle. Dewar had the secondary assist.
Kaprizov extended it to 3-0 with a power-play goal 31 seconds later on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Mats Zuccarello<\/a>. Zuccarello extended his point streak to eight games.
Pat Maroon<\/a> pushed it to 4-0 at 1:43 of the second period on a redirection of a shot from the point by Alex Goligoski<\/a>.
\u201cIt\u2019s completely different teams, I would say,\u201d Maroon said of Minnesota over the past two games. \u201cWouldn\u2019t you think? For us right now, we\u2019re playing faster. We\u2019re getting up in the play. We\u2019re three-quarter icing them right now. We have good gaps. We\u2019re back-pressuring and closing in on them fast, and we have fast transition right now. The faster you play like that, the faster you get on offense.\u201d
MIN@NSH: Maroon tips in a goal early in the 2nd, 4-0
Saros was replaced by Lankinen after Maroon\u2019s goal.
\u201cI think lack of execution, lack of will,\u201d Predators coach Andrew Brunette said of Nashville\u2019s performance. \u201cWe knew coming in we were facing a really hungry team that was going to be highly motivated, and we didn\u2019t match the intensity. And when you don\u2019t match the intensity in this League, you don\u2019t win too many nights.\u201d
Dewar made it 5-0 at 11:12 on a breakaway, entering the zone on a pass from Kaprizov.
Parssinen cut it to 5-1 at 2:37 of the third period on a redirection.
Dewar completed the hat trick at 9:47, scoring off a rebound in the crease for the 6-1 final.
NOTES:<\/strong> Dewar became the first Wild player age 24 or younger with a four-point game since Kaprizov on April 22, 2022 (one goal, three assists in a 6-3 win against the Seattle Kraken). … Zuccarello has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) during his eight-game point streak. \u2026 Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier<\/a> left the game after taking a hit from Kaprizov in the first period; Brunette did not have an update. \u2026 Predators forward Gustav Nyquist<\/a>\u2019s nine-game point streak ended (two goals, nine assists).<\/p>\n