The Minnesota Wild might not be where they want to be in the NHL Western Conference standings, but the Wild can say that they have swept a season series against conference contenders.
The Wild on Thursday took the third and final meeting of the regular season against the Arizona Coyotes 8-5, scoring all eight of their goals in the final two periods.
Marcus Foligno, Eric Staal and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and two assists for the Wild. Ryan Hartman and Brad Hunt each added a goal and assist, while Ryan Suter, Ryan Donato and Luke Kunin also scored for the Wild. Zach Parise had two assists, as goalie Devan Dubnyk had 35 saves in his first game since Nov. 16.
Photo: AP
The Coyotes lost for the fourth time in five home games. They also took another hit, losing No. 1 goalie Darcy Kuemper to injury late in the third period. Kuemper had to be helped off the ice with 3 minutes, 8 seconds to play after going into a butterfly position to stop a shot by Hartman and struggling to get up.
“That’s a tough one to watch,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said of Kuemper’s injury, offering no medical update after the game. “I’m taking the positive, really. I’ve seen things that look bad and the next day, they’re not as bad. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
The Wild put an end to a three-game road losing streak, scoring eight goals on 33 shots, including an empty-net goal in the final seconds.
The Wild outscored the Coyotes 4-1 in the second period and 4-3 in the third period, after trailing 1-0 at the end of the first period.
The Coyotes’ Jakob Chychrun scored two goals, giving him a career-high nine this season, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Clayton Keller and Phil Kessel also scored. Newly acquired forward Taylor Hall, in his home debut, got the primary assist on Kessel’s first-period goal.
The Coyotes’ Nick Schmaltz had three assists — raising his team-high point total to 27 — as Alex Goligoski added two assists.
The third period saw the Coyotes draw even at four goals, with two of them scored in less than five minutes to start the session. The Wild answered with the next two goals and four of the final five.
“You need to play good defense to win and I thought it was, for our team, a little too up-and-down for our stuff,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Every now and again, you can get away with it.”
Holding a tenuous 6-5 lead after Keller’s goal with more than 14 minutes to play, Suter scored at 11:16 and Kunin scored with the net empty with 9 seconds left.
Kuemper entered the game with a 15-7-2 mark as a starter in goal and a 1.97 goals-against average. He was replaced by Antti Raanta.
“You hate to see that,” Chychrun said of Kuemper. “Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looks and hopefully he can come back 100 percent.”
Also on Thursday, it was:
‧ Islanders 3, Bruins 2
‧ Flyers 6, Sabres 1
‧ Stars 4, Lightning 3
‧ Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 1
‧ Blackhawks 4, Jets 1
‧ Blue Jackets 3, Kings 2
‧ Senators 5, Predators 4
‧ Canadiens 4, Flames 3
‧ Canucks 5, Golden Knights 4
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