The Minnesota Wild won their seventh straight game with a 4-1 victory against the Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild are 11-3-0 at home, including six straight wins in which they have outscored their opponents 23-8. Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper, starting for the sixth time this season, made 27 saves to improve to 3-2-1. It was his first start since Nov. 29. Wild defenseman Ryan Suter opened the scoring at 16:40 of the first period with a power-play goal, his first goal in 16 games. Minnesota forward Tyler Graovac gave the Wild a 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 11:35 of the second before Chris Stewart made it 3-0 at 3:24 of the third. Brendan Perlini ended Kuemper's shutout when he scored with 1:54 remaining before Eric Staal added an empty-net goal with 37 seconds left to make it 4-1. Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy returned the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury and assisted on Perlini's goal.
"You're up two going into the third period, you definitely want to push for the third one and kind of took their hope," Stewart said. "If they get one there, then it's 2-1, it's a whole different ballgame. It's cliché, but we put the nail in the coffin."
* Smith denied Wild forward Nino Niederreiter at 11:45 with a diving save in the second period.
* At 14:25 of the second, Murphy stopped the puck from crossing the goal line behind Smith to keep the score 2-0.
* Wild forward Erik Haula left the game at 5:02 of the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Boudreau said he will know more on his status on Monday. ... Wil forward Zac Dalpe has been cleared to play. He has missed 21 games with a knee injury. ... Doan remained one goal from 400 in his career. … Parise has a four-game point streak (one goal, three assists).
"It's never fun sitting back and watching, but it's a little bit easier when the team's been playing like they have been. It was just nice to get out there and feel like I was contributing to a good thing we've got going and it was a fun game in front of the home crowd and it was a big win." Kuemper said.
"It felt really good. I had a blast. It's fun to be a part of this team when we're winning like this…We have momentum and we're going to keep trying to keep this tide going.""I think Bruce was rolling with three centermen and saying, 'Grao you're up. Grao you're up.' I've never heard him say my name so many times." Graovac said.
Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves for his NHL-leading fifth shutout of the season, and the Minnesota Wild won their eighth straight, a 2-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center. Dubnyk is 7-0-0 with nine goals allowed in his past seven starts for Minnesota (19-8-4). The Wild winning streak is the second longest in their history (nine games, March 8-24, 2007). Minnesota is 12-3-0 at home, including seven straight wins outscoring opponents 25-8. The Wild are in second place in the Central Division with 42 points, three ahead of the St. Louis Blues and six behind the Chicago Blackhawks. Coyle scored a power-play goal at 14:14 of the first period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. He extended his point streak to four games, and it was the third straight game the Wild scored a power-play goal. Mikko Koivu made it 2-0 at 8:21 of the second period. Semyon Varlamov, who returned after missing three games with a groin injury, made 31 saves for Colorado (11-19-1), which has lost four straight and is 2-9-1 in its past 12 games.
* Coyle picked up the rebound off Matt Dumba's shot for his Wild-leading 11th goal.
* At 1:34 of the first period, Varlamov stopped Wild forward Jason Pominville as he sneaked up the right side.
* Wild forward Eric Staal won the faceoff at 14:06 of the first period that set up the power-play goal. Staal had an assist, three shots, two takeaways and seven faceoff wins. He has four goals and three assists for seven points in a five-game point streak
* Wild forward Pat Cannone, 30, played 9:11 in his NHL debut. He had two shots and five faceoff wins. … Avalanche forward Joe Colborne played 10:33 after missing three games with a lower-body injury.
"We want to keep this streak going here. It's been our best hockey and we want to push these guys (Colorado) back down. We want to keep them there and kind of distance ourselves back up in the standings. We need these points right now. They're going to be crucial down the road, so it's a really big two for us." Charlie Coyle said.
"I brought it to their attention. As for the source of pride, that's upon them. I can't read their minds. I think they took it to heart. I think it was one of those games where the score was a little, what's the word I'm looking for, it could've been worse." Bruce Boudreau
Eric Staal scored a shorthanded goal at 3:08 of the third period and the Minnesota Wild won their ninth straight game with a 4-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves, and Jordan Schroeder, Jared Spurgeon and Jason Zucker scored for Minnesota (20-8-4), which also won nine straight games from March 8-24, 2007. The Wild have an opportunity to break that record against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Max Pacioretty and Artturi Lehkonen scored and Carey Price made 23 saves for Montreal (21-8-4), which has lost two of its past three home games. The Canadiens blew leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the second period. Montreal took a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the second while the Wild were on a power play. Pacioretty raced down the ice after Spurgeon misplayed the puck at the Canadiens blue line to score his 14th goal, the first shorthanded goal allowed by Minnesota this season. Schroeder, who was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, scored his first goal in three games with the Wild this season at 7:09 to make it 1-1. Lehkonen gave Montreal its second lead at 2-1 with his seventh goal at 10:35. Spurgeon scored in his 400th game to tie it 2-2 at 15:43 of the second period, when each team scored two goals. Zucker scored an empty-net goal with 23 seconds remaining.
* Staal gave Minnesota its first lead at 3-2 when he raced down the left side and put a shot from the left faceoff dot that surprised Price. "I kind of expected him to hold onto it and take it to the hoop, but he's been in this League for a long time and he's crafty like that," Price said.
* Dubnyk stuck out his right pad to make a toe save on Tomas Plekanec's shot on a Montreal power play with 2:53 remaining.
* Granlund got an assist when he batted Ryan Suter's clearing attempt out of Minnesota's zone to set up a loose puck that Staal chased down in the neutral zone before scoring shorthanded.
* Minnesota forward Zach Parise did not play because of illness. He will not play Friday. ... Defenseman Joel Hanley was recalled from St. John's of the AHL on an emergency basis. He played in place of Emelin, who will not play at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
"I've been a part of some good runs before, never 10 in a row, so this is fun. You want to keep this riding as long as you can, and it's a lot of fun winning. We're going into the break feeling real good and it's going to be a great effort to put everything on the line [Friday] and then exhale for a couple of days." Staal said.
"We hung in there pretty well. I thought it was a really good game. Unfortunately for them, they were using four defensemen almost for the whole game and I think they got a little tired at the end. But I thought we never quit and we always believed, and when you believe, good things happen." Bruce Boudreau said
"I think this one is different by the way that a lot of the games happened on the road as well, so that's never easy to do in this league, to get road wins in a row. So for sure, it's a great feeling and you want to keep doing it." Mikko Koivu"He's a good goalie. His journey's been a rough one at times, but you've got to respect his resilience and the way he's carried himself throughout the whole process. You've got to tip your hat to a guy like that, sticking with it and finding a way to be successful." Devan Dubnyk
Wild @ NY Rangers 7-4 - Friday, December 23, 2016
The Minnesota Wild won their 10th consecutive game, the longest streak in their history, 7-4 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Marco Scandella, Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba and Charlie Coyle scored for the Wild (21-8-4), who have outscored the opposition 37-16 during the streak. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves.
Coyle had three assists, and Koivu, Zucker and Eric Staal each had two.
Chris Kreider scored twice, and Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan each had a goal for the Rangers (23-12-1), who have lost two straight, allowing seven goals in each game. New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 13 shots before being pulled 4:55 into the second period. Antti Raanta made five saves.
* Scandella scored his first of the season off a slap shot from the left faceoff circle.
"Once we started winning, they started to believe in the things we were trying to accomplish, and the times we didn't do well, [goalie Devan Dubnyk] was there to bail us out. When you gain confidence, and if you believe you can win all the time, then it usually happens. It'll never happen if you don't believe you can win." Bruce Boudreau
"I think more important than the winning streak is the way we're playing right now. For sure, it's great to have the record, but as players we're looking more at the way we play, and being able to play in tough buildings and beat some good hockey teams is a great feeling." Koivu said.
"No one is thinking about the record. We just play with hopes of coming ready to play, and everyone's doing their part right now." Coyle said.
The Wild scored five goals in the second period to take a 6-3 lead. Koivu and Niederreiter scored goals 18 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period to give the Wild a 3-1 lead. McDonagh pulled New York within 3-2 on a slap shot from the left point at 2:17 before Scandella gave Minnesota a 4-2 lead at 4:55 to end Lundqvist's night. Zucker then gave the Wild a 5-2 lead when he knocked in a loose puck from the slot at 12:14. Dumba scored a power-play goal with 2:36 remaining to make it 6-2. Stepan gave the Rangers some life when he scored from the left circle off a nice move to make it 6-3 with one minute remaining in the period. Kreider scored his second of the game with three minutes remaining to make it 6-4, but Coyle's empty-net goal with 1:09 left put the Wild back up by three goals, 7-4. Kreider scored 3:54 into the first to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Granlund scored at 9:53 to tie it 1-1.
* Kuemper made a left-pad save against J.T. Miller with 4:15 left in the second period and the Wild leading 5-2.
* Koivu and Niederreiter scored in a span of 18 seconds early in the second to give the Wild a 3-1 lead.
* Koivu, who went 14-for-23 (61 percent) on faceoffs, won a draw in the left circle to help set up Granlund's game-tying goal.
* The Wild have an 11-game point streak (10-0-1). … The line of Koivu centering Zucker and Granlund combined for three goals and eight points, and the line of Staal centering Coyle and Niederreiter had two goals and eight points. ... Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello tied an NHL career high with three assists.
"I think more important than the winning streak is the way we're playing right now. For sure, it's great to have the record, but as players we're looking more at the way we play, and being able to play in tough buildings and beat some good hockey teams is a great feeling." Koivu said.
"No one is thinking about the record. We just play with hopes of coming ready to play, and everyone's doing their part right now." Coyle said.
