Minnesota @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 27, 2018 ) Arizona 4, Minnesota 3

The Minnesota Wild visit the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday for what is a virtual elimination contest in the Western Conference wild-card race with four games left in the regular season. Arizona trails Colorado by three points for the second wild card after losing 3-2 in a shootout at the Avalanche on Friday and Minnesota remained four back with a huge 3-2 win at Vegas later the same night.

“I thought we had a good mindset,” Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk told reporters after reaching 30 wins for the fifth straight season Friday. “You’ve got to have that sense of urgency and understanding it’s a must-win games, but we can’t change what we’re doing. We all know what we need to do to be able to play, and we did that.” Minnesota leading scorer Zach Parise has missed three straight games and is questionable for Saturday due to a lower-body injury, but veteran center Eric Staal has scored twice and set up another in the past three contests. The Coyotes, who split two one-goal games at Minnesota earlier this season, rallied with two goals from defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Friday to tie before going 0-for-3 in the bonus format to drop to 1-3-3 in their last seven games. “You can figure out the math,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after the loss. “We needed two (points), but we got one to stay alive. Four games are left, and we need every point and every bit of help from other teams. We didn’t give up. Oliver did a great job of getting us back in the game.”

TV: 5 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin, FS North Plus (Minnesota), FS Arizona Plus

ABOUT THE WILD (36-33-9): Left wing Kevin Fiala recorded his third goal in his 15th game since coming over in a trade with Nashville on Friday and defenseman Greg Pateryn scored his first of the season in the victory at Vegas. Ryan Suter is third on the team with 46 points - five from his career high - but has not hit the scoresheet in his last four games while fellow defenseman Jared Spurgeon already owns career bests of 14 goals and 43 points. Left wing Jason Zucker snapped a five-game point drought with two assists Friday and reached 40 points for the third straight season with 41.

ABOUT THE COYOTES (37-33-8): Ekman-Larsson is second on the team with 43 points after posting three goals and an assist in the past four contests while forward Clayton Keller leads the way with 46, but has been kept off the scoresheet in five straight games. Alex Galchenyuk has also cooled off with just one of 39 points in his last six games and fellow forwards Derek Stepan, along with Richard Panik, are pointless in the past five contests. Goalie Darcy Kuemper continues to shine, allowing just 15 goals in his last nine games despite managing just a 3-3-3 record in that stretch.

OVERTIME

1. The Wild is 8-for-25 on the power play the past eight games after scoring twice with the man advantage Friday.

2. Arizona F Vinnie Hinostroza had gone without a point for six games before recording a pair of assists Friday.

3. The Coyotes signed C Nick Schmaltz, who is out for the season with a lower-body injury, to a seven-year contract Saturday.

PREDICTION: Coyotes 3, Wild 2