Coyotes at Wild
THE STORY: The Minnesota Wild found a way to end their season-worst eight-game losing streak on Thursday. The Phoenix Coyotes will look to do the same with their four-game slide on Saturday - at the Wild's expense, no less. The struggling teams will meet at the Xcel Energy Center for their second matchup of the season. Ironically, Minnesota last tasted victory on Dec. 10 with a 4-1 triumph over Phoenix. After scoring just 10 goals in their previous eight contests, the Wild experienced an offensive explosion - well, by their standards - in a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. While the end result was clearly desired, Minnesota coach Mike Yeo was thrilled with the way it was achieved. "I love emotion in our game, and we had emotion right down the line,” Yeo said. For its part, Phoenix's emotion hasn't been positive as it has won only three times in its last 11 games (3-7-1).
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSAZ+, FSNO
ABOUT THE COYOTES (18-16-4): Phoenix simply can't avoid playing in nail-biters. The Coyotes competed in their seventh straight one-goal game on Thursday and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Colorado Avalanche. “It’s frustrating," Tippett said of the team's fifth loss in that stretch. "We’ve played a lot of tight hockey games and we can’t find a way to get on top of them." With G Mike Smith still smarting, Jason LaBarbera is expected to draw his fifth straight start on Saturday.
ABOUT THE WILD (21-12-6): Captain Mikko Koivu scored to extend his point streak to nine games on Thursday. The Finn fared well when Phoenix came calling back on Jan. 2, which ended up being a 6-5 overtime victory. Koivu recorded a career-high tying four assists. All told, he has 18 points in 21 career games versus Phoenix. RW Dany Heatley collected his third goal in four games in Thursday's victory. He also has 18 career points versus the Coyotes, albeit in only 20 contests.
OVERTIME:
1. Phoenix is putting up goose eggs on both ends of its special teams play. The positive is that the Coyotes have killed off their last 18 shorthanded situations. Conversely, Phoenix is 0-for-11 on the power play during its four-game losing skid.
2. Minnesota D Marek Zidlicky notched three assists on Thursday, marking his first game with three helpers since March 25, 2009.