Zuccarello, Greenway each gets goal, assist in Wild win against Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Mats Zuccarello and Jordan Greenway each had a goal and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Friday.

Kaapo Kahkonen made 24 saves to win his sixth straight start for the Wild (13-7-1), who opened a 3-0 lead in the first period. Kahkonen has made 152 saves on 162 shots during his winning streak (.938 save percentage).
"Special teams, lines one through four, all the D-men and 'Kahko' included, it's fun when you're all on the same page and play well together," Minnesota forward Nick Bjugstad said.
Kirill Kaprizov and Marcus Foligno each had two assists for the Wild, who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games but were swept in a two-game set at the Vegas Golden Knights.

"We dealt with it, and we were definitely ready for the drop of the puck here," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said.
Clayton Keller scored for the third straight game, and Antti Raanta made 22 saves for the Coyotes (10-10-3), who fell behind by at least three goals for the fifth time in six games. They have trailed 3-0 four times during that stretch.

"We had four or five guys, they just weren't good," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "Yeah, it's a team game, but four or five guys were just really bad and really cost us with some egregious plays."
After the Wild won a face-off in the Coyotes zone, Kaprizov steered a pass to Zuccarello for a one-timer from the slot for a 1-0 lead at 4:27 of the first period.
Brad Hunt, playing for the first time since Feb. 2, scored his first goal since Feb. 6, 2020, against the Vancouver Canucks to make it 2-0 at 13:18.
"Obviously, it wasn't good enough (in Vegas)," Wild defenseman Ian Cole said. "The ability to refocus and come back here against a good team, and obviously play a great first period, and be able to close the game out, it's a step in the right direction."
Bjugstad increased the lead to 3-0 at 14:27 when he scored off Kaprizov's no-look, behind-the-back pass from behind the net.
"It shouldn't surprise us what 'Kirills' does, he seems to give us something new all the time," Evason said. "I had to talk to the guys after the first period. I mean, our goals were so beautiful or pretty, we challenged the guys to make sure we kept doing the little things right, do the simple things."
The Coyotes have been outscored 9-0 in the first period in their past nine games.
"We came out OK and then kind of just lost it," Arizona forward Tyler Pitlick said. "We weren't working. We weren't executing the plays. We weren't ourselves. I think the best thing we can do is flush it and forget about it."
Evason credited Kahkonen with making sure the Coyotes didn't get back in the game.
"He made some big saves again for us in key moments," Evason said. "There's opportunities where they can create momentum, and he just finds a way to keep the puck out of the net and keep the group going."
Greenway scored on a short breakaway for a 4-0 lead at 5:08 of the second period.
Keller cut it to 4-1 at 4:59 of the third period before Kevin Fiala scored after a giveaway by defenseman Jordan Oesterle in the slot at 18:46 for the 5-1 final.

The Wild and Coyotes, who played for the first time this season, are scheduled to complete a two-game set here Saturday. Arizona has lost its past three home games and is 6-7-3 at Gila River Arena.
"There's definitely a lack of energy at home for some reason, and we've got to put a finger on it," Tocchet said.
NOTES: Minnesota forward Zach Parise played 14:10 and was plus-1 after being a healthy scratch Wednesday for the first time since signing with the Wild before the 2012-13 season. … Kahkonen played against the Coyotes for the first time. His six straight wins set a Wild rookie record (Darcy Kuemper, five wins, Feb. 4-March 3, 2014). … Minnesota is 17-4-3 in its past 24 games against Arizona. … The Wild power play was 0-for-4 and is an NHL-worst 5-for-70 (7.1 percent). … After Saturday, the Coyotes play 16 of their next 20 games on the road.