SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild suffered their first home loss of the season on Thursday, and may have suffered a bigger loss on their roster.

Center Cody Hodgson scored late in the third period, lifting the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 win over Minnesota on Thursday. The worse news came early in the game, when star left winger Zach Parise left in the first period and did not return after taking a hit from behind. The team called it a lower-body injury.

"The bottom line is we're losing Zach and we're probably going to lose some offense," Wild coach Mike Yeo said, adding that they will update Parise's status on Friday, but he is not expected back for Minnesota's next game.

Center Mike Fisher and defenseman Roman Josi also scored for the Predators (8-2-2), who snapped a two-game winless streak. Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne had 27 saves in the win.

"There wasn't a lot of room out there so gaining space and gaining territory and clean plays wasn't really an option tonight," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "You had to grind it out. I thought our guys stuck with it. Our best period was the third period."

Hodgson's long-range shot was stopped by Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, but Hodgson poked the loose puck under the goalie with 5:21 left in the third period after Dubnyk lost track of the shot. The goalie argued afterward, to no avail, that the whistle should have blown.

"Watch the replay," Dubnyk said. "His explanation is the puck was sitting between my legs the whole time and that's why he didn't blow the whistle. And I think all you need to do is watch the replay to realize that wasn't the case. The reason the puck came out is because I moved because he didn't blow the whistle."

Defensemen Marco Scandella and Matt Dumba scored power-play goals for Minnesota (7-3-2). Dubnyk had 21 saves for the Wild, who fell to 5-1-0 at home.

Just 12 seconds into the third period, Josi intercepted an errant clearing attempt at the blue line, snapping off a hard shot that hit traffic on the way to the net and bounced between Dubnyk's knees and give Nashville a 2-1 lead. It was the fifth point notched by Josi in the past four games.

But back-to-back penalties on the Predators gave Minnesota's man-advantage unit another chance, and Dumba re-tied the game at 2-2 with a blast from the blue line.

The scoreless first period was not without drama, as Predators right winger Craig Smith's shot in the opening minute trickled past Dubnyk and appeared headed into the net before Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon stopped the puck on the goal line.

It was barely a minute into the game that Parise suffered his injury. Predators right winger James Neal hit Parise into the boards near the Nashville bench. Parise limped from the ice, favoring his left leg, and headed down the tunnel with a trainer. He returned later in the period to skate five shifts, but left the bench again for good with two minutes left in the period. Neal was not made available to the media after the game.

"We weren't good tonight. We didn't come out the way we needed to," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said, adding that losing Parise was a tough blow. "He's our best player. It definitely stinks to see your best player go down, and hopefully he's back soon."

After Rinne kept the game scoreless in the second period, stopping Wild left winger Jason Zucker on a breakaway, the Predators made the first mark on the scoreboard. Defenseman Shea Weber sent a long pass up ice to Fisher, who came in alone on Dubnyk and beat the goalie with a stick-side wrist shot. It was the second goal of the season for Fisher.

"Maybe our execution wasn't there in the first period like we wanted it to be," Predators defenseman Seth Jones said. "I thought guys were moving their feet pretty well. We took that as appositive thing and not a negative thing and we came pretty ready to play."

Nashville's lead was shot-lived, as a penalty on defenseman Ryan Ellis gave Minnesota its second power play of the game, and Scandella knotted the score, taking a pass from defenseman Ryan Suter and ripping a shot from the top of the right circle that fooled Rinne.

NOTES: Thursday was the 10-year anniversary of Wild C Mikko Koivu's first NHL game. He played 13 minutes on Nov. 5, 2005, in a 3-1 win at San Jose, taking one penalty and losing four faceoffs. Current teammate D Matt Dumba was 11 when the Minnesota captain made his NHL debut. ... Predators assistant coach Phil Housley spent Wednesday night shaking hands and posing for pictures at a political fund-raiser in the Twin Cities suburbs. Housley's wife, Karin, is a member of the Minnesota State Senate and is up for re-election in a year. ... In advance of Saturday's Minnesota deer season opener, outdoors store Gander Mountain handed out 18,000 blaze orange hunting hats to fans entering the arena on Thursday, making for an eye-popping visual. ... The Wild, in the midst of a three-game homestand, next host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Predators begin a five-game homestand on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.