Forward misses third straight game with upper-body injury

Buy Photo Predators forward James Neal. (Photo: Jae S. Lee / The Tennessean)Buy Photo

Predators forward James Neal missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

Neal is day-to-day, according to coach Peter Laviolette. He is tied with forward Craig Smith for the team's goal-scoring lead with 22, but had one goal in 11 games prior to the injury.

"He does a lot for us," forward Matt Cullen said. "He plays a lot of minutes, he plays on our power play. He's that weapon that can just kind of score at any time. You may not be noticing him, then bang, he scores a goal and changes the game around."

Though Neal's natural scoring ability is missed, he is one of four players with at least 20 goals for the Predators. That total was tied with the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning for most in the NHL as of Tuesday.

"He's a great shooter, big body, big part of the offense," forward Mike Fisher said. "That being said, we've got lots of guys that are capable of coming in and (we've) done a pretty good job."

Home, sweet home: After a four-game road trip, the Predators began a three-game home stand on Tuesday.

Nashville's 26 home wins were second only to Tampa Bay's 27 entering play Tuesday, but a 3-2 overtime loss to the Wild extended the Predators' season-worst home losing streak to five games.

"That belief in this building is huge," Fisher said. "At home, we've got to be solid. That's why we want to get home-ice advantage too, because we've been so strong here. We've got a good little stretch at home. We've got to make the best of it."

Josi's big night spoiled: Defenseman Roman Josi scored twice within 45 seconds in the second period for his first multi-goal game of the season.

With 51 points, he became the fourth defenseman in Predators history to reach the 50-point plateau. Josi is five points shy of Shea Weber's single-season record of 56 points, set last season.

"Right now, I'm not thinking about points," Josi said. "It's about the team. We've got to find a way to get back to those winning ways. You're not going to be happy after a game if you lost a game."

NEWSLETTERS Get the Sports newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Top and trending sports headlines you need to know for your busy day. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-342-8237. Delivery: Daily Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Sports Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters

"Krazy" Kyle's new toy: Bridgestone Arena organist "Krazy" Kyle Hankins unveiled a new Roland AT-900 during the first period. He christened the organ by playing "Also sprach Zarathustra" by composer Richard Strauss.

Reach Adam Vingan at 615-218-9835 and on Twitter @AdamVingan.