Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal broke a third-period deadlock and led the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday in Tempe, Ariz.
The Wild are on a two-game winning streak and are 9-4-1 since the All-Star break.
Mats Zuccarello assisted on all three Wild goals, and the forward sparked the winning tally with a takeaway. Zuccarello sent the puck into the high slot for Eriksson Ek, who buried a well-placed wrist shot at 7:16 of the third period.
Brock Faber had a goal and an assist for the Wild, and Ryan Hartman had two assists. Kirill Kaprizov, Zach Bogosian and Connor Dewar scored Minnesota’s other goals.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 of 25 shots for his 13th win in 30 games this season.
The Coyotes are 2-14-2 in their past 18 games, and 0-7-0 in their past seven home games.
Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored within a seven-second span for the third-quickest pair of goals in Coyotes franchise history.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 23 of 26 shots.
After a scoreless first period, Kaprizov put Minnesota ahead on a power-play goal 1:51 into the second frame. Kaprizov banged in a loose puck at the side of Arizona’s net for his 30th goal of the season and his 10th tally in his last nine games.
Fleury stopped all 11 Coyotes shots during the second period, including a highlight-reel kick save on Dylan Guenther at the 12:23 mark.
Arizona finally got to Fleury in sudden fashion, beginning with Keller’s power-play marker at 1:21 of the third period. Carcone followed up just seven seconds later, racing into Minnesota’s zone to ring a shot off the post and into the net.
The rapid-fire offense continued when Bogosian equalized for the Wild only 32 seconds after Carcone’s goal. The Coyotes made a goaltender interference challenge due to Jacob Lucchini’s presence in the crease, but Bogosian’s goal stood after a video review.
Minnesota had a would-be goal from Lucchini denied on a Coyotes offsides challenge early in the second period.
Faber and Dewar sealed the Wild’s victory with empty-net goals in the final 72 seconds of regulation.
–Field Level Media
