Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Arizona

The essentials

The opponent

Coming off a one-goal loss in Winnipeg on Tuesday, the Arizona Coyotes have lost four-straight games and nine of their past 11 overall.
The Coyotes have won just three games since the calendar turned to 2018, but two of those victories have come against Central Division opponents (Nashville and St. Louis).
Arizona is concluding a three-game road trip that began Saturday in Los Angeles. The Coyotes will play nine of their next 10 games at Gila River Arena, including a rematch with the Wild on March 7. The teams complete their three-game season series March 17 in Glendale.
Rookie forward Clayton Keller leads Arizona with 14 goals and 36 points but is a minus-22. Derek Stepan has 10 goals and 22 assists, while defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has eight goals and 24 points but is a minus-40.
Antti Raanta has a solid .916 save percentage and 2.62 goals-against average but is just 8-14-5 in an injury-riddled campaign so far.

Connections

• Wild assistant coach John Anderson served as a Coyotes assistant for two years (2011-13).
• Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk went 9-5-2 with a 2.72 GAA, .916 save percentage and one shutout in 19 games (16 starts) with Arizona during the 2014-15 season before being acquired by the Wild on Jan. 14, 2015.
• Wild forward Daniel Winnik was selected in the ninth round (265th overall) by the Coyotes in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He totaled 52 points (18-34=52) and 100 penalty minutes in 202 games with Arizona (2007-10).
• Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski is from Grand Rapids and played three years at the University of Minnesota.
• Coyotes forward Derek Stepan hails from Hastings and played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin.

Hockey Is For Everyone

The Wild has designated Thursday's game as
Hockey Is For Everyone Awareness Night
, part of a league-wide, month-long celebration of diversity and inclusion on and off the ice. A portion of special Hockey Is For Everyone ticket proceeds were donated to two DinoMights youth hockey teams who will attend the contest and play a game during the first intermission. Other intermission activities include a Willie O'Ree 60th anniversary video, a Minnesota Sled Hockey game and video recaps of the 2017 USA Hockey Sled Hockey Classic held at Plymouth Ice Center and the "Into The Wild" event held at Xcel Energy Center earlier this month in conjunction with the Autism Society of Minnesota.
As part of Hockey Is For Everyone Awareness Night, the following groups will have information tables set up on the main concourse:
Wild forward Charlie Coyle is the club's official Hockey Is For Everyone ambassador. Along with one player from each of the NHL's other 30 clubs, Coyle has committed to remaining a leader in the locker room and in the community when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion. These players have agreed to lead the way in their markets and be an advocate for underrepresented, marginalized or disadvantaged communities.

Home cookin'

Minnesota returns to Xcel Energy Center to begin a five-game homestand (Feb. 8-17), its second-longest stretch of games at home this season. The Wild is 18-4-4 on home ice in 2017-18 and its current 10-game point streak is tied for the franchise record.

Dog days

Minnesota owns an 11-game point streak (9-0-2) against Arizona since Jan. 9, 2014 -- the longest point streak in Wild history against any opponent. Minnesota is 4-0-1 in the last five games against the Coyotes in St. Paul since Oct. 23, 2014.
Related:
- Hockey Is For Everyone Awareness Night details - Wild.com catches up with Boudreau in Bruce Bites Q&A - With Brodin out, young defensemen must step up