Wild players wanted a stiffer penalty for Zach L’Heureux from the NHL but say they're happy to take matters into their own hands Saturday.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

Marc-Andre Fleury came to Las Vegas and got in on the ground ... prior to their 3-1 win in San Jose on Saturday. He added that team captain Jared Spurgeon has begun “hard physical activity off the ice” as he works to return from a lower-body injury ...

Marc-Andre Fleury had 36 saves for the Wild in the latest entry of his rollercoaster week. On Tuesday, he came on in relief of Filip Gustavsson in a come-from-behind win over St. Louis. Two nights later, Fleury was so floored by an illness that he could only stay on the team bench for two periods as Gustavsson played, and lost, versus Colorado.

Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek smiled when asked about two of his longtime teammates returning from injuries this week. One of the players, Kirill Kaprizov, is the leading scorer on the Wild.

Matt Boldy's power-play goal 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the third period cut it back down to a two-goal game, but Forsberg scored his second of the night unassisted 16 minutes, 20 seconds into the frame, and Brady Skjei scored an empty-netter with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining to put the finishing touches on a Predators victory.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

Nashville took over after the rough stuff, led by veteran scorer Filip Forsberg (two goals and assist), captain Roman Josi (two assists) and goaltender Juuse Saros (27 saves), as the Predators continue their second-half reclamation under coach and former Wild player Andrew Brunette.

MacKinnon capitalized on Blackwood's play late in the second period. He stickhandled in the Wild zone, which sent Middleton to the ice, sent the puck to Samuel Girard, took the return pass down the slot and beat Fleury with a wrister at 18:52.

In the age-old battle of youth vs. experience, future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury prevailed to backstop the Wild to a 3-1 victory Saturday night at SAP Center for their fifth win in their past six games.

The game opened with a fight between Zach L'Heureux and Yakov Trenin, a result of L'Heureux's slew-foot on Jared Spurgeon ... 11th win of the season. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 32 saves ...

Shortly after President Donald Trump announced a new massive AI infrastructure investment from the White House, “First Buddy” Elon Musk tried to tear it down. The former corporate lawyer joined her Vice President husband JD Vance on the dance floor with the Trumps.