Talbot stops 22 shots, Wild beat Coyotes 5-2
Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates his goal against the Arizona Coyotes with left wing Kevin Fiala (22), center Nick Bonino (13), and defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) during the first period.[AP/Ross D. Franklin]
Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist, Cam Talbot stopped 22 shots and the Minnesota Wild stretched their winning streak to four games with a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night.
Kirill Kaprizov, Jordan Greenway and Marcus Johansson also scored to help the Wild strengthen their playoff position. Minnesota has 59 points, 14 ahead of fourth-place Arizona in the West Division.
Jonas Brodin added an empty-net goal for Minnesota.
Christian Fischer scored his first goal in 48 regular-season games and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Coyotes, who had numerous defensive breakdowns in losing for the sixth time in seven games. Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.
Arizona had an emotional game on Saturday, playing after 9-year-old Leighton Accardo was posthumously inducted into the team’s ring of honor.
The Coyotes took a while to regain their focus, falling into a two-goal hole against St. Louis before rallying for a 3-2 win to leapfrog the Blues for fourth in the West.
The Wild, fresh off winning three straight home games, had the early jump on the Coyotes and scored on tic-tac-toe passing to Kaprizov for his 18th goal, matching Marian Gaborik’s team rookie record. He also broke Gaborik’s rookie record with his 37th point.
Fischer tied it late in the period, beating Talbot to the glove side after picking off a pass by Ryan Suter at the top of the circles for his first regular-season goal since Feb. 19, 2020.
Greenway scored early the second period, one-timing a pass from Marcus Foligno after a breakdown by the Coyotes in the neutral zone.
Johansson made it 3-1 midway through the period, chipping a rebound between Kuemper’s pads on a power play. Carson Soucy appeared to push the lead to three goals a minute later, but it was waved off for goalie interference against Foligno.
Goligoski pulled the Coyotes within one 1:15 into the third period on a shot from the left circle Talbot couldn’t see through Fischer’s screen.
The Wild went back up by two with a screen of their own when Kuemper was unable to see Fiala’s shot with two players in front.
UP NEXT
The Wild are 6-1 against the Coyotes heading into Wednesday’s season series finale.