The holidays can be a time of great stress. But for the Minnesota Wild, the next few days will bring some welcome time away from the rink, after a rough final two games before Christmas.

On Tuesday the Wild got a point, but not a win, before their three-day break when Steven Stamkos scored in overtime as the Nashville Predators rallied for a 3-2 win over Minnesota. It was Nashville’s third consecutive victory, and a second straight loss for the Wild.

Stamkos popped in a quick shot after a set-up pass by Erik Haula for Nashville, which scored a pair of first period power play goals, and improved to 1-0-1 versus the Wild this season.

Brock Faber and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for the Wild in the first and second periods, respectively.

“I thought we played all right. It sucks,” Faber said. “Unfortunate ending. Special teams needs to get cleaned up.”

Filip Gustavsson had 26 saves for the Wild, who saw their losing streak grow to two games after they had won their previous seven. Special teams were problematic for Minnesota, which saw the Predators score a pair of power play goals, while the Wild were stifled on a trio of man advantage opportunities.

“Obviously, special teams was a huge factor in the game tonight,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Penalties on both sides. There was a lot of special teams, and we lost that battle.”

Faber, who was playing in his 200th career game, opened the scoring with a rising rocket from the blue line after Quinn Hughes carried the puck in deep, then made a spinning pass back to his defensive partner.

But after killing their first penalty of the night, the Predators evened the score when Ryan O’Reilly slipped a backhand shot under Gustavsson’s left leg pad during Nashville’s first power play of the game. The Preds took the lead on their next power play, with Roman Josi snapping a wrist shot past Gustavsson to give the visitors a 2-1 lead after the opening period.

“The PK wasn’t good enough in the first period and then they scored two goals on that,” Gustavsson said. “We had to battle for it.”

The Wild needed less than a minute in the middle frame to tie it back up, with a Eriksson Ek put-back from the top of the crease with the Nashville goalie scrambling.

Late in the second, Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello and Nashville forward Michael McCarron both went to the penalty box for slashing. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Eriksson Ek had a breakaway that was thwarted, then Wild captain Jared Spurgeon took a penalty, giving Nashville’s power play another chance. But three key saves by Gustavsson got the game to the second intermission with nothing further on the scoreboard.

Minnesota likely should have gotten a late power play when Predators defender Nick Perbix gave Wild forward Ryan Hartman a stick to the face with 91 seconds left in regulation. As boos rained down when the replay was shown, there was no penalty called on the play. Hynes said he did not receive an explanation for the lack of a call.

Nashville goalie Juuse Saros had 30 saves in the win. The Predators get two more cracks at Minnesota on home ice this season, hosting the Wild on Feb. 4 and again on April 11. The players agreed that the mental and physical break they have upcoming will be important.

“It’s tough being goalies on ankles, hips, knees, groin, and the mental aspect is probably the bigger part,” said Gustavsson, now 12-8-4 as Minnesota’s goalie of record.

The NHL’s mandated holiday break begins on Wednesday, with the Wild off until they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night, in the opener of their season-long seven-game road trip. The Wild will also visit Vegas, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles (twice) and Seattle on the journey.

With the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship taking place in St. Paul and Minneapolis beginning on Friday, Minnesota’s next home game is more than two weeks away. The Wild host the New York Islanders on Saturday, Jan. 10.

Minnesota’s blue line crew returned to full health on Tuesday, with Zach Bogosian being activated off the injured reserve list. He had missed the previous four games with a lower body injury. With Bogosian back in the lineup, Matt Kiersted and David Jiricek were healthy scratches.

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