Coyotes look to continue strong third-period play against Wild
The Arizona Coyotes conclude the pre-All-Star-Break portion of their schedule with a pair of road games against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night and Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
The Coyotes (23-19-5) ended a season-long seven-game homestand on a positive note on Saturday night, defeating the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Kings 3-2 to end a four-game losing streak.
"It was big for us to stop what was going in the wrong direction," said captain Shane Doan, who scored his team-leading 17th goal and also assisted on Jordan Martinook's game-winning score. "We finished the homestand 3-3-1, so it was a big (win) for us."
Now they'll play their first road games since winning in Calgary on Jan. 7.
The three-goal output against the Kings was needed by Arizona after it had scored just twice in their previous three games.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson added a power-play goal in the second period. The Coyotes have nine power-play goals in 20 opportunities in their last six victories, but are only 1 for 12 with a man advantage in their last five losses.
The goal was Ekman-Larsson's 14th of the season, tied for second among NHL defenseman, and his 34 total points are tied for the team lead with Mikkel Boedker.
Monday night's game in Minnesota can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona, starting at 6 p.m.
Minnesota is focused on putting together a complete 60-minute performance and avoiding its longest home losing streak in nearly three years.
The Wild (23-17-8) are returning home after a four-game road trip in which it lost three times -- giving up five third-period goals in the three losses. The only time they did not give up a late score was in their only victory, 3-0 over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
On Saturday, Jarret Stoll scored a third-period goal to pull Minnesota even with San Jose, but Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks with less than two minutes left for the game-winner. It was the second time in three games the Wild gave up the winning goal in the game's final seven minutes.
The third period has been the most prolific for the Coyotes. They've scored 36 times in the first period, 39 in the second and 47 in the third.
The two teams have split their previous meetings this year -- both in Glendale. Zach Parise led the Wild to a 4-3 win over Oct. 15 with a goal and an assist, while Mikkel Boedker scored the game-winner in overtime in the Coyotes' 2-1 victory on Dec. 11.
The Wild are 8-1-1 over the last 10 meetings with the Coyotes.
Doan will play in his 1,432nd game tonight, passing Mike Gartner for 25th place on the NHL's all-time list for most games played.
