Without fans filling the arena and providing a lift with their cheers and chants, the Wild has still established a home-ice advantage in St. Paul this season.
Wild wins eighth in a row at home, shuts out Coyotes 3-0
Wild matches franchise mark for success at Xcel Energy Center.
March 17, 2021 at 6:33AM
This edge is currently at its sharpest after the team blanked the Coyotes 3-0 on Tuesday to sweep its five-game homestand and tie the franchise record for the longest winning streak at Xcel Energy Center with eight straight victories.
But with the way the Wild is executing right now, combining goaltending that's perfect or close to it with an equally airtight penalty kill and timely goal scoring, where the team plays might be irrelevant.
"We're excited to come to the rink every day," Ryan Hartman said. "Every time we're getting ready to gear up for a game, we have the mind-set that we're going to go out there and we're going to win the hockey game."
Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves for his second career shutout in his past three starts while posting his ninth consecutive victory. The penalty kill was a superb 4-for-4, and Mats Zuccarello notched the 4,000th regular-season goal in Wild history.
Only four rookie goalies in NHL history have posted longer win streaks than Kahkonen's. His run is also the lengthiest by a Wild rookie and just one shy of tying Devan Dubnyk's 10-game team record overall.
During his 9-0 tear, Kahkonen has stopped 233 of 246 shots for a 1.44 goals-against average and .947 save percentage. His 12 wins this season have tied Darcy Kuemper (2013-14) for the most by a Wild rookie.
"Every time they tell me that I'm playing, I'm just gonna go in and compete against the other team," Kahkonen said.
The netminder had an early lead to work with, as Hartman put a rebound off the end boards behind Arizona goalie Adin Hill just 1 minute, 37 seconds into the first period.
After that, the action turned feisty.
Carson Soucy was assessed a charging major for a hit on the Coyotes' Conor Garland along the boards.
On Arizona's ensuing power play, Kahkonen made five stops — including a slick sliding pad save on Clayton Keller, who was facing an open side before Kahkonen swooped over.
"The guys were doing a great job in front of me, cutting passes and blocking shots," Kahkonen said. "It's almost like I kinda know where the shots are coming from, if there's any."
When Soucy returned to the ice, he was confronted by the Coyotes' Lawson Crouse, who pummeled Soucy with punches.
Crouse was kicked out of the game, getting penalized for instigating, fighting and being the aggressor.
The Wild didn't convert on the power play, going 0-for-3, but the penalty kill again stepped up in the second period and again in the third — weathering a 5-on-3 for 1:09.
"Anytime you have a 5-on-3 and you have to kill a five-minute major, you probably don't win a lot of those hockey games," Hartman said. "We did a good job. It started with Kaapo in net there. He made some good saves and kept us in it there. Guys battled, and we were able to keep them off the board."
The offense reappeared in the third, with Zuccarello's shot at 2:07 from the top of the faceoff circle slipping by Hill, who finished with 23 saves. Zuccarello's goal pushed his point streak and rookie Kirill Kaprizov's to four games. With the assist, Kaprizov continues to lead the Wild and NHL rookies in scoring with 25 points.
And with 6:03 to go, Spurgeon's point shot sailed in to end his 26-game goalless skid and send the Wild to Colorado for its next two games riding an avalanche of momentum.
"We're happy that things have gone well here so far," coach Dean Evason said, "but it has to continue — not only here, but on the road."
The NHL’s coaching carousel revealed itself again, a fight reminded us what has changed, and of course there was unpredictable matter involving a goalie.
