Coyotes at Wild
While Devan Dubnyk has been the constant during the Minnesota Wild's six-game winning streak, fellow goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to receive a rare start on Saturday afternoon against the visiting Arizona Coyotes. The NHL's leader in goals-against average (1.62), save percentage (.947) and shutouts (four), Dubnyk turned aside 34 shots in Thursday's 5-2 triumph over Nashville to send Minnesota to its sixth straight win and extend his personal point streak to a career-high 10 games (8-0-2).
"I'm playing (Saturday), so I'm looking forward to the start," the 26-year-old Kuemper (2-2-1) told the Minneapolis Star Tribune ahead of making his first start since Nov. 29 - Minnesota's last regulation loss. "It's awesome watching all the success (Dubnyk is) having and all the success the team is having. It's fun coming to the rink right now and I'm excited to get the chance to contribute to it." Arizona is enjoying a taste of success as well by answering a six-game skid with wins in three of its last four contests heading into the finale of a four-game road trip. Captain Shane Doan, who is one goal shy of 400 for his career, has been limited to just three assists in 17 road contests this season.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona-Plus, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (11-14-5): Defenseman Connor Murphy remains a possibility to return on Saturday from a weeklong absence due to an upper-body injury, according to coach Dave Tippett. While Murphy is in the day-to-day category, forward Max Domi likely has a significantly longer wait as he recovers from hand surgery. "It's an unfortunate injury, but he's a hard player," Tippett told AZCentral.com. "That's how he plays. The surgery, everything went well with it. We’ll just bide our time, and he'll be back some time probably in January."
ABOUT THE WILD (17-8-4): Veteran Eric Staal scored twice versus the Predators to increase his team-leading point total to 22 for Minnesota, which boasts an NHL third-best 13 players with 10 or more points. "You can't just rely on one line or a couple guys; you need balanced scoring," fellow forward Zach Parise said. "Right now, we're getting that. We hope to keep it up. That's tough to sustain all year but it's working right now." Mikael Granlund has collected two goals and four assists during a five-game point streak and Nino Niederreiter set up a pair of tallies on Thursday to extend his point streak to four (one goal, four assists).
OVERTIME
1. Arizona G Mike Smith, who made 44 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over Toronto on Thursday, owns a 4-8-1 career mark versus Minnesota with two shutouts and a 2.27 GAA.
2. The Wild have scored the first goal in nine of their last 11 contests.
3. The Coyotes have scored a power-play goal in back-to-back outings after going 0-for-10 in the previous four.