Kuemper gets third shutout of season in Wild's 2-0 win

When the players are bemoaning the number of days off, when even the coach is "sick of practicing," you know the bored-to-death Wild is tired of watching every other team play night after night and is ready to join the party more than once or twice a week.

In large part because of a nonsensical schedule that had seen the Wild play four times in the season's first 15 days, the Wild's execution looked off Thursday night. And there's no doubt the Wild was sloppy and not exactly crisp during many junctures against the rebranded Arizona — no longer Phoenix! — Coyotes.

Ugly or not, though, goalie Darcy Kuemper and the Wild's defense was stingy as always during a simple- feeling 2-0 victory.

With 26 saves, Kuemper recorded his career-high third shutout in only four starts this season and second in as many home starts — the Wild's first at Xcel Energy Center in two weeks.

"It felt like the home opener again," defenseman Jared Spurgeon said after assisting on goals by Charlie Coyle and Jason Pominville and blocking five shots.

Finally, the Wild — which has allowed four goals in five games and a league-low 22.8 shots per game — should start to resemble a real hockey team.

After five consecutive days off last week and 3½ to open this week, the Wild began a stretch of six games in nine nights against the Coyotes. And that should be a good thing for the Wild, which at times Thursday played reactionary hockey rather than dictating pace.

"It'll be nice here to play more games, get into a little bit more of a rhythm," Pominville said. "A lot of time off is fun to rest the body, but we want to play. Practice is fun, but not that fun."

After a scoreless first period and playing against a Dave Tippett-coached team that has thrived throughout history when scoring first, Coyle — one day after signing a five-year extension — broke a 0-0 deadlock early in the second period with his second goal of the season.

He redirected Spurgeon's wrist shot after Mikko Koivu's hard work and Thomas Vanek's setup for what would become Coyle's fifth career game-winner. Less than three minutes later, Pominville made it 2-0 by taking Zach Parise's pass atop the circles and drilling a shot against the grain to beat Mike Smith blocker-side.

The goal came after Spurgeon joined the attack once he recognized Mikael Granlund could hit him with speed to catch Arizona flat-footed.

"We're trying to get the D-men involved more," Spurgeon said.

From there, Kuemper was solid. He was a backbone during those times the Wild's defense was penetrated and he challenged all game long. As usual, Kuemper said he was reaping the benefits of "the guys in front of me," but Coyle said: "Every game he's played, he's been awesome. We're very confident with what we've got back there."

Kuemper is 3-1 with a 0.50 goals-against average (two goals allowed) and a .980 save percentage. At home in his career, Kuemper is 13-3-2 with a 1.61 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.

"I definitely didn't think about something like this happening," Kuemper said of three shutouts in four starts. "It's definitely a good feeling and pretty exciting."

After the Coyle and Pominville goals, the Wild took over until Arizona took three second-period penalties.

Considering the way the Wild's power play has gone this season, it wasn't surprising the power play doused momentum. The Wild saw its season-long power-play drought hit 19 in a row and five games.

"That's up to me. That's my job," Yeo said. "Our players are frustrated. … There's no question that I have to figure that out, and once we do, we'll be a pretty dangerous team."