Wild 3, Coyotes 1
Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves to defeat the team that traded him three days ago as host Minnesota posted consecutive victories for the first time in two months.
Jason Zucker scored his fourth goal in seven contests while Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise also tallied for the Wild, who have won five in a row over Arizona. Dubnyk also notched his second career assist on Zucker's team-leading 16th goal.
Antoine Vermette scored on the power play for the Coyotes, who have mustered just five goals during their four-game skid. Mike Smith, who became the team's unquestioned starter following Dubnyk's departure, turned aside 30 shots in suffering his third straight loss and falling to 7-19-2 on the season.
Nino Niederreiter cut to the net before losing the puck, but Coyle skated into it and lifted the shot over Smith's glove with 6:25 remaining in the first period to open the scoring. Zucker executed a brilliant give-and-go with Justin Fontaine before backhanding the puck past Smith at 8:41 of the second to double the advantage.
Arizona answered five minutes later as defenseman Keith Yandle's shot from the point was tipped by David Moss and hit the post before Vermette tapped it home. Parise added an empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining in the third to seal the second straight win for Dubnyk, who made 18 saves in a 7-0 rout of Buffalo on Thursday - one day after being acquired for a third-round pick.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Minnesota last won consecutive games during a season-high four-game run from Nov. 13-20. ... Arizona LW Mikkel Boedker saw his career-high four-game goal-scoring streak come to an end. ... Wild D Ryan Suter finished serving his two-game suspension for elbowing Pittsburgh's Steve Downie during a 7-2 setback on Tuesday. ... Coyotes captain Shane Doan missed his second consecutive contest with a lower-body injury.