Goals by Zuccarello, Gaudreau help Wild top skidding Coyotes
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mats Zuccarello and Freddy Gaudreau scored 51 seconds apart in the second period, and the Minnesota Wild held off the reeling Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Saturday night.
Kirill Kaprizov nearly had a milestone goal and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for Minnesota, playing its lone home game in a seven-game stretch.
The Wild are 14-2-0 in their last 16 against the Coyotes.
Lawson Crouse scored and Connor Ingram stopped 25 shots for Arizona, which has lost eight straight games — all in regulation — while getting outscored 33-15. It is the most consecutive losses by the Coyotes since dropping nine in a row from Oct. 18 to Nov. 5, 2021.
Kaprizov thought he gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead midway through the third period with a wrister from the left circle. However, video review showed Sam Steel was barely offside. The goal would have been the 100th of his career and come two years to the day after Kaprizov scored in overtime during his first NHL game to beat Los Angeles.
Instead, he'll just have to celebrate a win.
Minnesota had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:17 midway through the second period, but Ingram made big saves on Matt Boldy, Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek before the Wild final beat the Arizona goaltender.
One-touch passes from Calen Addison and Kaprizov fed Zuccarello at the doorstep for an easy redirect at 9:39. It was Zuccarello's seventh power-play goal of the season, tying a career high.
Addison's 16 power-play points — all assists — are tops among NHL rookies.
Less than a minute later, Ryan Hartman gathered a loose puck in the right circle and moved around a sliding defenseman and Ingram before sliding a pass across the blue paint to Gaudreau. The goal came two seconds after a power play expired.
Crouse pounced on a rebound 5:44 into the third period and beat Fleury with a slap shot from the left dot to get the Coyotes within one.
PLAYING CLEANER
The teams combined for just six penalty minutes. Arizona entered 28th in penalty minutes per game at 11.3; Minnesota was 31st at 12.6.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Play at Winnipeg on Sunday.
Wild: Begin a four-game trip Tuesday at Washington.
