Wild at Coyotes
The Minnesota Wild attempt to strengthen their hold on third place in the Central Division when they visit the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Minnesota withstood a late comeback attempt by Vegas on Friday to post a 4-2 road victory and move three points ahead of Colorado and Dallas for the final automatic playoff berth in the Central.
Jason Zucker had a memorable first game in the city in which he was raised, scoring the first goal of the contest and setting up another to end his three-game point drought. The 26-year-old left wing is one tally away from his first 30-goal season in the NHL and also has set career highs with 27 assists and 56 points. Despite residing in the Western Conference basement, Arizona will not be a pushover for the Wild as it has earned points in 13 of its last 17 contests (11-4-2). The Coyotes, who are 2-1-0 on their five-game homestand, have used the surge to move one point ahead of league-worst Buffalo and pull within two of Vancouver in the West.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Arizona Plus
ABOUT THE WILD (40-24-7): Devan Dubnyk, who served as Alex Stalock's backup against the Golden Knights, is expected to make his third attempt at posting his 200th career victory Saturday. Charlie Coyle looks to continue his hot stretch as he has collected three goals and three assists during his five-game point streak. Minnesota has reached the 40-win plateau for the eighth time in club history and fourth in five seasons after recording a franchise-high 49 last campaign.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (23-36-11): Christian Dvorak scored in Thursday's 3-2 loss to league-leading Nashville, giving him five of the 20 goals Arizona has recorded this month. The tally was the 22-year-old center's 15th of the campaign, which matches his total as a rookie last season and gave him 34 points - one more than the amount he registered in 2016-17. Antti Raanta, who has missed six games with a lower-body injury, practiced Friday and likely will be in net against Minnesota.
OVERTIME
1. Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson has scored in two of his last three games, leaving him one goal shy of 100 for his career.
2. Minnesota D Matt Dumba, who netted his career high-tying 11th tally Friday, is expected to skate in his 300th NHL game Saturday.
3. Arizona assigned G Adin Hill to Tucson of the American Hockey League.