Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 3, Coyotes 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 3-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday night:

1. Minnesota overcame a sluggish second period, rallying for a big goal in the third period to secure the win.
The Coyotes outshot the Wild 11-8 in the second period and scored a goal on a breakaway by Clayton Keller.
It could have been much worse.
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk shut down a partial 3-on-0 break with a glove save on Richard Panik, and also came up with a couple other big saves to keep the game knotted at 1-1 after 40 minutes.
That gave the Wild the respite it needed.
With 9:09 left in regulation, it was Minnesota's fourth line to the rescue, forcing the Coyotes into a turnover. Joel Eriksson Ek gained control of the puck behind the goal and left a puck for Daniel Winnik, who fed a pretty backhand pass to Marcus Foligno near the right circle. He rifled a shot past Arizona goalie Antti Raanta for his eighth goal and second game winner of the season.

Dubnyk finished the game with 30 saves as the Wild defeated Arizona for the first time in three tries this season. The win gave the Wild a weekend sweep in Glendale and in Las Vegas and moved it five points clear of both Dallas and Colorado in the Central Division standings. The win was the 200th of Dubnyk's NHL career.

Eric Staal added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left to salt the win away. It was his 38th goal of the season.
2. Nino Niederreiter inched closer to a fourth consecutive 20-goal season.
His goal 7:35 into the first period was his 17th of the season and gave the Wild a 1-0 lead after a shot from the point by Matt Dumba hit Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta square. The puck popped free to Niederreiter in front, who scooped the loose puck into the net.

The goal was Niederreiter's first in five games and second in 15 games, a stretch in which he also has five assists and is a plus-3. He's a guy the Wild need to get going if it hopes to, a) make the playoffs, and b) do damage if/when it gets there.
3. Dumba's assist came in his 300th NHL game.
The Wild's 23-year old defenseman is in the midst of a career offensive season, tying his high Friday night in Las Vegas with his 11th goal. His helper Saturday was his 29th, already six better than his previous career best and his 40th point, the first time in his five-year NHL career he's reached the 40-point plateau.
"This year's there's been a lot more consistency in him than there was in the previous year I was here," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said before the game on Saturday. "There's been more responsibility heaped on him this year, and I think he's responded to that responsibility."
Related:
- Wild hopes to turn tide in Arizona - Takeaways from Friday night's win in Vegas