Eriksson Ek, Boldy help Wild beat Coyotes 3-1 for fourth straight win
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Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy each had a goal and an assist, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 shots and the Minnesota Wild beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 on Wednesday night.
Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild, who have won four in a row and seven of nine. Fleury got his 554th career win.
Kirill Kaprizov had an assist, and the Wild's top line of Eriksson El, Boldy and Kaprizov have seven goals and 10 assists in the last three games.
“The nice thing to see is that they are playing to the identity that you have to play with,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “They are playing with hard skill. When the opportunities present themselves to get scoring chances or score, they are able to capitalize on them. They are hard to contain. They are working as a trio. There is no passenger on the line.”
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Coyotes forward Logan Cooley broke up Fleury’s bid for his 75th career shutout when he cut the deficit to 2-1 at 5:21 of the third period with a shot from the left circle through the five hole. Arizona has lost seven straight.
“We had our looks, but couldn’t find a way,” said Cooley, who grew up in Pittsburgh when Fleury played there. “He’s a Hall of Fame goalie. I watched him a lot. I just tried to get a shot on net and fortunately it went in."
Connor Ingram started in goal and had 28 saves through two periods before he was replaced by Karel Vejmelka, who had 12 saves in the third. Ingram suffered an undisclosed injury that is expected to keep him out 7-to-10 days, coach Andre Tourigny said.
Boldy restored Minnesota's two-goal lead with just under 9 minutes remaining when he brought the puck in from the right side and beat Vejmelka, who got a piece of Boldy’s wrist shot but could not keep it from trickling in.
“Kind of a lucky bounce more than anything, just kind of rolled through,” Boldy said. “Not really totally sure how it went in, but there are no pictures on the scoresheet. They all count.”
The Wild killed all three Coyotes' power play opportunities and have killed 29 of 32 penalties in the last nine games.
The Coyotes have totaled 16 goals during their losing streak. They fell five points behind the Wild in the West and eight points out of the final wild card spot.
"These games are really four-point games against teams you are contending with to climb up in the standings,” Hynes said.
Arizona had the best early chance, but Fleury moved out of his net to stop Nick Bjugstad’s breakaway eight minutes into the game.
“He makes a lot of key saves at key times,” Hynes said, "They way he competes in the net. His passion for the game, it is what has driven his talent throughout his career. He still has the drive ... the ability to play at a high level.
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead when he scored on a power play with 5:59 left in the first. Boldy set up the goal when took a pass from behind the net and skated along the red line before threading a nifty backhand pass to Eriksson Ek in front for a quick wrist shot.
The Coyotes appeared to tie it with 3:38 remaining in the second period on Nick Schmaltz’s shot from the slot, but the goal was disallowed after a video review when Barrett Hayton was called for goalie interference by bumping Fleury.
“I felt he was in the blue and I couldn't get there (to make the play),” Fleury said. “I couldn't go down. He (Hayton) was so close to me that my foot got stuck with his foot.”
Brodin put a wrist shot past Ingram to give the Wild a 2-0 lead with 20.9 seconds remaining in the second, a few moments after Fleury made a shoulder save on a wrist shot by Lawson Crouse.
“It was a key response,” Hynes said. “It was a key point in the game. They did have some momentum. They had some good O-zone shifts and had us under duress a bit.”
Up next
Wild: Host Buffalo on Saturday.
Coyotes: Host Carolina on Friday night.