TEMPE, Ariz. — Joel Eriksson Ek broke a third-period tie with his 29th goal of the season, Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves - some in spectacular fashion - and the Minnesota Wild beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Thursday night.
After Zach Bogosian pulled the Wild even at 2 two minutes into the third period, Ek beat Coyotes goalie Karel Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:16.
“I like how we didn’t overthink it and kept playing,” said Fleury, whose team fell behind 2-1 early in the third.
Kirill Kaprizov had his 30th goal, Brock Faber and Connor Dewar added empty-netters and Mats Zuccarello had three assists on the night. Minnesota has won two straight after a back -breaking three-game skid dropped the club nine points out of the final Western Conference wild card spot.
“Zuc was in it to win it tonight,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He's obviously a good offensive player. What I like about him, too, he got hit early in the game and I thought that brought some feistiness into his game. That's what you need. It was a game where we had to get two points, and he was a big factor.”
Fleury had his second victory in three weeks at 4,600-seat Mullett Arena and is 19-10-1 for his career against the Coyotes. He is 6-2-0 with a 2.12 goals against average in 10 appearances since Jan. 13.
“It's been fun,” said Fleury, who has told the organization that he wants to stay put at the Friday trade deadline. “We've been playing close games and winning some games. Feeling good, and feeling I can help a bit. I can't say I've changed much. Just keep battling.”
Vejmelka made 23 saves for the Coyotes. They have lost two in a row and 16 of 18 to plummet in the Western Conference standings.
Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored seven seconds apart in the first 1:28 of the third to give Arizona a 2-1 lead, but Bogosian tied it 32 seconds later when he put a wrist shot through a scramble in front of the net.
“Obviously, you want to have a response, so it was good timing,” Bogosian said. “'Flower' (Fluery) kept us in it. He made a lot of really big saves.”
Wild forward Jake Lucchini made contact with Vejmelka in the crease on the play, but the Coyotes’ challenge for goalie interference was denied.
“It was a key moment,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “We challenged, and it could have gone either way. I thought it was a good game. We played well. We had Grade-A chances, but their goalie made some really good saves on those Grade-A chances.”
Kaprizov has four goals in the last two games after getting his third hat trick of the season in a 4-3 victory over San Jose on Sunday. The Russian superstar opened the scoring on a power play with 1:51 left in the second period. With Sean Durzi off for tripping, Kaprizov took a cross-ice pass from Zuccarello and found the open right corner.
The Coyotes have given up five power-play goals in the last two games. Chicago had four power plays goals in a 5-2 victory Tuesday night, matching the most such goals allowed by the Coyotes since the franchise moved from Winnipeg in 1996.
Arizona held out forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba for “trade-related” reasons, the team said. Forward Nick Bjugstad missed the game for family reasons. Arizona traded defenseman Troy Stecher to Edmonton after Stecher went through the morning skate Thursday.
UP NEXT
Wild: At Colorado on Friday night.
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