Minnesota @ Arizona preview
Mullett Arena
Last Meeting ( Jan 13, 2024 ) Arizona 6, Minnesota 0
The Minnesota Wild appear to have turned the corner.
Whether Minnesota has done it in time to be a playoff team remains to be seen, but it is looking to continue its winning ways against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday in Tempe, Ariz.
After opening a two-game road trip with a 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, the Wild meet the Coyotes riding a three-game winning streak. They also have six victories in their past eight outings.
It has been a much-needed turnaround after winning only twice in 11 games.
"I love the two points, but I think the process to get to two points was really solid," Minnesota coach John Hynes said. "We came in trying to replicate a game that we feel gives us a chance to win."
Minnesota is a handful of points outside of a playoff position and, entering Tuesday's slate of games, needed to vault three clubs to even move into a wild-card spot, but getting out of a free fall was of the utmost importance.
"We can't really look at the standings yet," Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. "We just need to find two points as many times as we can, and we'll see where we end up when these 30 games are up."
Helping the cause has been the contributions of Minnesota's top line: Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, who has collected seven goals and eight assists in his past 10 games.
"Just playing our own styles, but doing it together," said Boldy, who recorded one goal and two assists in Las Vegas. "We're all big, strong, hard on the puck. And when we play that way, it's hard to defend."
The Coyotes are on the other side of the spectrum these days and return home following a 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Arizona boasted a 3-2 lead six minutes into the third period but could not hang on.
"One-goal lead is a one-shot lead," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "It's not like we lost a two-goal lead. We had the chance to create that separation in the game, but we could not bury it."
Adding to the frustration is the fact the Coyotes have blown leads in each of their past two outings, extending their struggles while falling further and further off the playoff pace.
"We've had leads in the last two games, and everything's on the line for us. We need these points, and we didn't get them," Arizona forward Nick Bjugstad said. "It stinks and we're not feeling too great right now."
Arizona is in the throes of a six-game skid and has managed only four victories in its 16 games (4-10-2) since the start of 2024, with problems coming to a head in all kinds of areas.
"There's a few common themes, we have to stay out of the box, that's one thing," Tourigny said. "They played hard on the other side, I liked the way the guys adjusted on their breakout."
The Philadelphia game marked the Coyotes debut of forward Adam Ruzicka, who was claimed off waivers from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 25. He finished the game plus-1 in 9:20 of ice time.
--Field Level Media