After a thrilling victory on Monday, the Coyotes return to the United States to play the Minnesota Wild and look to sweep their back-to-back set of games with Winnipeg and Minnesota. Tuesday is Arizona's first matchup with the Wild at Xcel Energy Center this season after playing four games there last year. Puck drop with the Wild is scheduled for 6 p.m.
PACK FACTS
Tuesday is the second of three head-to-head meetings the Coyotes have with the Wild this season and the first of two in Minnesota. The first game between the clubs this year took place earlier this month on Nov. 10 (5-2 L).
Andrew Ladd and Shayne Gostisbehere lit the lamp for Arizona in the Nov. 10 contest, while Gostisbehere also added an assist to mark his third multi-point game of the season. Clayton Keller chipped in an assist as well and has registered five points (1-4-5) versus Minnesota since the start of 2020-21.
A win on Tuesday would mark Arizona's first four-game road winning streak since Feb. 4, 2021 - March 8, 2021 (five games). The Coyotes have not lost on the road in any fashion since Nov. 13 at Nashville.
Since Nov. 16, the Coyotes are allowing 2.29 goals against per game which shares the league's fifth-lowest mark with Washington in that span. Arizona goaltenders have combined for a .945 SV% over the last seven games.
The Coyotes' rookie goaltender Karel Vejmelka has won his last two starts, including Monday's historic 46-save shutout. The 46 saves in the clean sheet tied for the most by a goalie in his first regular-season shutout in NHL history, tied for the third-most in a shutout by a rookie in NHL history and the second most ever in a shutout in franchise history (Mike Smith, 54 saves on April 3, 2012).
Fellow Arizona goalie Scott Wedgewood has played in five of the Yotes' last seven games and has registered a 2-2-1 record in that span. He holds a .929 SV% with the Coyotes this season.
The Coyotes' franchise is 30-40-3-4 all-time against the Wild.
A LOOK AT THE WILD
Minnesota (14-6-1, 29 pts) enters Tuesday as the Central Division frontrunner and boasts a 7-2-0 home record in 2021-22. The reigning Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota in assists (17) and points (23) and has 12 points (3-9-12) in his last six games. Fellow forward Ryan Hartman has scored in three straight games and paces the club with 12 goals on the campaign. The Wild are fourth in the NHL in goals for per game (3.62) and have tallied four or more goals in 10 of their last 13 games.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Travis Boyd: One point from 50 career NHL points
Ryan Dzingel: One multi-goal game from 10 career NHL multi-goal games
Jakob Chychrun: Two goals from 50 career NHL goals
Phil Kessel: One power-play assist from 200 career NHL power-play assists
KEY CONNECTIONS
Ex-Coyotes
• Alex Goligoski (2016-21)
Ex-Wild
• Johan Larsson (2012-13)
Phil Housley was an assistant coach with Nashville when Kevin Fiala (2014-17) and Frederick Gaudreau (2016-17) were on the team.
Andrew Ladd had Dean Evason as an assistant coach while playing for the WHL's Calgary Hitmen (2004-05).
Clayton Keller was teammates with Jordan Greenway at Boston University during the 2016-17 season.
Phil Kessel had Bill Guerin as his Assistant GM in Pittsburgh from 2015-19…Teammates with Nick Bjugstad in Pittsburgh during the 2018-19 season.
Cory Stillman played with Dmitry Kulikov in Florida from 2009-11.
Anton Stralman was teammates with Mats Zuccarello (2011-14) and Cam Talbot (2013-14) on the Rangers.
Scott Wedgewood played with Dmitry Kulikov in New Jersey for part of 2020-21…Teammates with Jon Merrill in New Jersey for part of the 2015-16 season.
