*Photo from the Arizona Daily Star*
The Minnesota Wild continue to hold their playoff position. They've gotten some good play to be able to do so. Kirill Kaprizov scored, Marcus Foligno scored the game winning goal, and the Wild took down the Arizona Coyotes with a 4-1 win Wednesday night. Kevin Fiala also scored for the Wild.
The Coyotes got on the board first, with Christian Dvorak scoring at the 7:38 mark of the first to give Arizona an early 1-0 lead. 2:58 into the second period, Fiala scored for the Wild to even things up at one apiece. In the 3rd period, goals from Foligno, Kaprizov, and Nico Sturm on an empty net sealed the 4-1 win for the Wild.
Sturm said of Kaprizov's outstanding rookie season that "It's undeniable that he's taken this team and moved it to the next level with his play. He fights off guys on the boards, he's so strong. That's just really impressive what he's done this year."
Cam Talbot got the start for the Wild and put together a fantastic performance in net, saving 39 of 40 shots, his only mistake being the Dvorak goal in the first. Talbot has had a sharp season with the Wild, as his record improved to 16-6-3 with the win, while the Wild remain in 3rd place in the West Division, with a 29-13-3 record.
Talbot said of the win that "They're a desperate team, we knew they were going to come with a push, and they did just that from the drop of the puck. We weathered the storm. Give our guys a lot of credit. We bent tonight, but we didn't break, and Foligno gets a big goal there in the third, and then Kirill kind of finishes it off with a couple of minutes left there, so a good team effort."
Darcy Kuemper got the start for the Coyotes in a losing effort, saving 19 shots out of 22 this time around. Kumper saw his record drop to 8-9-2, below .500, with the defeat, while the Coyotes are hanging on to a playoff spot, sitting in 4th in the West with a 20-22-5 record.
Coyotes defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson said of the loss that "I think we played pretty well today, but we've got to find a way to put the puck in the net. That was the biggest difference. I think the guys were hungry. We were good on the forecheck and forcing them to turn over the puck. The forwards did a great job today and made it easier for us to play on the back end. We definitely need to bring the energy here when we go on the road. It's going to be a big three games for us coming up."
The Wild travel to Los Angeles to face the Kings on Friday night, with Talbot expected to start for the Wild. The Coyotes also play the Kings next, on Saturday, with Kuemper expected to start.
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