Plenty of win streaks will be on the line Tuesday when the Wild wraps up a three-game series against the Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center.
Kaapo Kahkonen, Wild vying to extend win streaks vs. Coyotes
The Wild has won four in a row and will tie the franchise record for longest win streak on home ice with another victory.
March 16, 2021 at 4:11PM
Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen will be going for a ninth straight victory, the Wild has a chance to sweep its five-game homestand and if that happens, the team will have won eight in a row at home – tying the franchise record.
"We definitely have to be as desperate or more desperate than Arizona tonight," coach Dean Evason said. "It's two games that they haven't had success and we have. They are going to be hungry, desperate and energized to play here tonight. And if we are not ready, then we are going to be hurt by that.
"Our message today is whatever they're going to bring tonight, it has to be matched by our group."
Other than subbing Kahkonen in for Cam Talbot, who was in net for the previous two wins over the Coyotes, the Wild will roll out the same lineup that the team used Sunday when it pulled away 4-1.
Injured forward Marcus Johansson skated Tuesday morning but remains sidelined. He's missed 13 games with an upper-body injury, and it's unclear if he'll travel with the team for its upcoming road trip.
After this series finale against Arizona, the Wild will go to Colorado to play two games against the Avalanche.
"You think it's not going to be too, too bad," Evason said of Johansson's injury. "But things linger. Obviously, it takes some time to heal, clearly, and everybody's different."
Projected lineup:
Jordan Greenway-Ryan Hartman-Kevin Fiala
Kirill Kaprizov-Victor Rask-Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise-Joel Eriksson Ek-Nick Bjugstad
Nico Sturm-Nick Bonino-Luke Johnson
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy-Ian Cole
Kaapo Kahkonen
Key numbers:
11-2-1: Record for the Wild over its last 14 games.
5: Points for rookie Kirill Kaprizov during his three-game point streak.
16: Shots for Kaprizov over his last two games.
7: Goals for the Wild in the third period vs. the Coyotes in this series.
2: Goals or more in the first period for the Wild in seven of the past 14 games.
About the Coyotes:
Arizona is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since Feb.26-27, getting outscored 8-1 by the Wild. Winger Phil Kessel has been the only Coyotes player to score against the Wild in this series. Kessel is also one assist shy of 500 in his career. Over his past 12 games, Kessel has five goals and five assists. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun has six goals in 14 games vs. the Wild.
The Wild have been the surprise of the league as their high-scoring winger makes a shambles of team scoring records.
