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NASHVILLE Jean-Gabriel Pageau Jersey , Tenn. (AP) The checklist for the Nashville Predators is getting shorter as the regular season winds down.Kyle Turris scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the Predators over the Minnesota Wild 2-1 Tuesday night to snap a three-game skid.The win clinched the defending Western Conference champions home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The franchise’s first Central Division title also is in reach, with Nashville leading Winnipeg by five points for both the top seed in the West and in the division with six games remaining apiece. Nashville wrapped up its division schedule by going 18-5-3.”We took another step closer tonight to achieving that goal and keep on getting wins, and finish as high as we can,” Predators forward Scott Hartnell said. ”It’s just been great efforts the whole year long, and especially tonight a big effort by everybody.”Nashville also moved three points ahead of Tampa Bay in the chase for the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Predators visit Tampa Bay on Sunday.Roman Josi scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 22 saves.Rinne turned away Nino Niederreiter in the shootout. Zach Parise’s attempt went wide left, and Rinne stopped Mikko Koivu to clinch it.”I thought it was our best game for a while now,” Josi said. ”I thought we played really well. I thought we played really well defensively, they didn’t have too many chances, and (Rinne) was there for us whenever they did have a chance. I thought it was a complete effort from us, and it’s good to be back in the win column.”Eric Staal tied it for Minnesota with 3:15 left on his 40th goal this season.Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves as Minnesota snapped a five-game point streak. The Wild still won the season series against Nashville, 3-2.”It was a great point,” said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau with Minnesota third in the Central and three points ahead of St. Louis. ”That’s, right now Mark Stone Jersey , they are the best team in the league, and we played them inch for inch.”The Predators thought they had scored 40 seconds into overtime on a slap shot by Ryan Ellis. Minnesota challenged for offside, and the goal was overturned on review because Turris’ right skate was a few inches ahead of the puck past the blue line.”I was right on the line on the bench and I figured it might be offside, but great job of still getting it done after,” Josi said of the erased goal.Rinne stopped Staal twice in overtime, and Mikael Granlund hit the far post with 1:07 left.Turris shot first for Nashville in the shootout, and he skated up before going across the slot and beating Dubnyk stick-side .Nashville returned home for three games mired in a skid that matched its longest this season. Playing in front of the 99th consecutive sold-out crowd didn’t hurt as the Predators improved to 26-8-4 in the place known as Smashville.The Predators came out throwing pucks at Dubnyk, and Josi put Nashville up 1-0 with a slap shot from the point off the faceoff that went under Dubnyk’s glove 2:51 into the game.Jordan Greenway made his NHL debut after finishing his college career at Boston University and signing a three-year entry level deal with Minnesota. Greenway was welcomed by a big check from Hartnell midway through the first period.”This is a tough game … for a young man’s career, but I thought he handled it well,” Boudreau said of Greenway.Nashville missed plenty of chances to pad its lead, going scoreless on four man advantages through the first two periods.Staal tied it by beating Rinne’s left skate inside the post.NOTES: Staal joined Gordie Howe as the only players to go at least nine years between 40-goal seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Howe went 12 seasons between his 44 goals in 1956-57 and 44 goals in 1968-69. Staal scored 40 in 2008-09, and this is his third 40-goal season. … Nashville won its most divisional games since also winning 18 in 2007-08. … Turris now has six goals on 13 shots in the shootout this season.UP NEXTWild: Host Dallas on Thursday night.Predators: Host Sharks on Thursday night.— The Vegas Golden Knights are among the NHL teams with the most salary cap space going into free agency , giving the Western Conference champions some chips to put on the table in a bid to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.Vegas had nearly $30 million to spend going into the weekend Youth Matt Duchene Jersey , according to spotrac.com, trailing only the New York Islanders by about $2 million. The Golden Knights seem set up for major moves if general manager George McPhee wants to bolster the second-year team with free agents.Vegas didn’t appear to have a shot at landing the top prize on the market John Tavares . But the Golden Knights may make a run at some other available veterans to help increase their chances of competing at a championship level again next season.Players such as James van Riemsdyk and Paul Stastny would fit in up front with a team that stunningly exceeded expectations during the franchise’s inaugural season. Mike Green, perhaps the best defenseman available, is another veteran that would mesh well as a puck-moving defenseman for the speedy team.However, McPhee may not want to pay a heavy price with long-term contracts to land any of the top players on the market. He may choose to re-sign his own free agents, sign goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has one year left on his deal, to a contract extension. He may roll with the talented players on his roster while trying to draft and develop.The Golden Knights have some free agents of their own they’ll want to bring back. James Neal, David Perron and Ryan Reaves are unrestricted free agents with a chance to cash in on their performances last season by re-signing with Vegas or leaving to take advantage of a thin crop of available players.Vegas’ key restricted free agents are: William Karlsson, Colin Miller, Shea Theodore, Tomas Nosek and Will Carrier. Keeping Karlsson, without a doubt, will be a priority.Here’s a look at some other teams positioned to make major moves:NEW YORK ISLANDERSThe Islanders had nearly $32 million in cap space the day before free agency began Mike Condon Jersey , giving them more money to spend than any other team in the league. They’ll need a lot of that money to retain Tavares, who is easily the best player potentially available. The 27-year-old star center can command an eight-year deal to stay in New York for perhaps $10 million, or more, per season.NEW YORK RANGERSThe Rangers were $27-plus million under the cap going into the weekend, but had just 13 players under contract. They will have to spend about $10 million next season to retain restricted free agents Vladislav Namestnikov, Kevin Hayes and Ryan Spooner.TORONTO MAPLE LEAFSThe franchise hopes to sign Tavares, who is from the Toronto area, to give it a second star to go along with 20-year-old Auston Matthews. Toronto will have some tough choices to make with some of its own players potentially on the unrestricted free agent market such as van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Tomas Plekanec and Leo Komarov. William Nylander, a restricted free agent, will be a priority to keep after consecutive 61-point seasons.VANCOUVER CANUCKSWith twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin retiring after counting $7 million each against the cap last season, the Canucks had nearly $25 million in cap space going into the weekend. They’ll probably have to pay free agents more and offer longer-term contracts than other suitors because they’ve been among the worst teams in the league the last three seasons.—