Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes vs. Wild

GAME 71:
Coyotes (23-36-11) vs. Wild (40-24-7)
Arizona will attempt to sweep a three-game season series from Minnesota when the teams battle in Glendale on Saturday night.

WHERE: Gila River Arena
WHEN: 6 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus
RADIO:ESPN 620 AM

KEY FACTS:
• Arizona rallied to defeat Minnesota twice this season, once at home and once on the road. The Coyotes scored six goals in the third periods of those two games to help secure the wins, including four when Arizona beat the Wild, 5-3, in Glendale on March 1.
• The Coyotes have posted a 5-2-1 record in March and are 4-1 in their past five home games.
• Antti Raanta will start in goal for Arizona for the first time since March 3. Raanta, who has missed the past six games because of a lower-body injury, has won his past three starts and seven of his past nine. He is 4-2-0 with a 2.76 goals-against average in seven career games (six starts) vs. the Wild.

• Both Clayton Keller and Derek Stepan will enter the game with a three-game point streak. Keller leads the Coyotes with 51 points and Stepan ranks second with 45.
• Christian Dvorak has scored five of Arizona's 20 goals in March and ranks third on the team with 15 behind Keller (19) and Brendan Perlini (16). Only three other NHLers have scored more goals than Dvorak this month.
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson will enter the game needing to score just one goal to become the sixth NHL defenseman from Sweden to tally 100 goals.
"I think he's playing his best hockey," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "He's playing like he wants to play in the playoffs. Unfortunately, this year, it's not going to happen for him, but I can tell he wants to sharpen his game going into next year."
• Zac Rinaldo is expected to return to the lineup after missing the past eight games because of an upper-body injury. Despite missing 26 games, Rinaldo ranks second on the team with 159 hits.
• The Wild beat Vegas, 4-2, on Friday night and will enter the game with 87 points, which is good for third place in the Central Division standings. Minnesota, which is 4-7-1 in the second game of back-to-back games this season, has posted a 9-3-1 record in its past 13 games at Arizona, including a 6-1-1 mark in its past eight contests. Devan Dubnyk, who is expected to start in goal, needs one win to reach 200 for his NHL career. Eric Staal ranks fifth in the NHL with 37 goals.

COYOTE BITES
• "We're treating these games like we're in it still. I think that will go a long way. It's just one way to challenge our squad ... We've beaten these guys twice so we know what it takes to beat them. They're going to bring their best effort so we've got to prepare for that." -- Max Domi on playing Wild
• "It's been feeling good. Every day has been a little better. We just want to make sure that we're not going to step back any more ... You're learning all the time something to maybe be doing before the ice or after the ice, how you can keep your body in better shape. When you get older, you start understanding more about the off-ice things and you start listening to your body a little more. It's not just going home and playing Xbox." -- Antti Raanta on his lower-body injury
• "They're going to be ready to play. They're not too happy losing a couple of games to us. They have a lot of depth. Eric Staal could be considered one of the MVPs of the League, and obviously (Devan) Dubnyk's a great goalie and they've got a good defense. It's a solid team and it's a playoff team. We know what we're up against. I love it. I think it's terrific for our guys. The better the teams, bring it on because we need this. We're not going to get this after April 7. We're getting it right now. For me, these are important games." -- Rick Tocchet