ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Coyotes have lost more games in a row than the Wild have dropped in the last month-plus.
But this mismatch wasn't reflected on the ice, with the Wild hanging on for a narrow 2-1 win on Saturday in front of 19,299 at Xcel Energy Center to extend Arizona's rut to eight games.
As for the Wild, they opened the second half of their season with their second straight win since a three-game slide.
Mats Zuccarello's goal rekindled the power play, Frederick Gaudreau scored for the second time in as many games and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 27 shots.
After a goalless first period, the Wild started to separate themselves from the Coyotes in the second period after back-to-back Arizona penalties.
During the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage, the Wild found the puck after a scramble in the crease and Kirill Kaprizov set up Zuccarello for a redirect in front at 9 minutes, 39 seconds.
That was Zuccarello's 18th goal of the season, and he has four points in three games since returning from a two-game injury absence. Kaprizov's assist counted as his seventh point over his past six games. Calen Addison also factored into the goal, and his 19 assists are the second most by a Wild rookie defenseman in team history; only Filip Kuba (21 in 2000-01) has more.
Zuccarello's goal snapped a three-game, 0-for-9 drought for the power play. The Wild finished 1 for 2 (the Coyotes were 0 for 1), and Zuccarello's seven goals on the power play are tied for the most in his career.
Only 51 seconds later, and just after their second power play expired, the Wild doubled their lead.
Ryan Hartman slid a pass around Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram to Gaudreau for a one-timer.
Gaudreau, who also scored in the 3-1 comeback vs. the Islanders on Thursday, is up to 11 goals on the season, just three shy of the career high he set last season.
Sam Steel's secondary assist on the play was his 14th point in the last 14 games.
As a result, Steel tied his career high in points at 22 in his first season with the Wild. His three-game point streak also matched his career best.
Ingram totaled 25 saves.
At the other end, Fleury picked up his first victory in four appearances.
His last two starts were extra-time losses; Fleury was in net when the Wild fell to the Rangers 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday. Before that, he was tagged with the 6-5 overtime setback against the Sabres on Jan. 7 that started the Wild's recent three-game dip.
Despite the Coyotes' struggles, they're a pesky team and Fleury was tested, especially in the third period.
That's when Arizona finally capitalized, cutting its deficit in half at 5:42 when Lawson Crouse buried the rebound off a Jack McBain shot.
This late-game push shouldn't have caught the Wild by surprise.
In their previous meeting with the Coyotes, Arizona tallied two goals in the third period to turn what could have been a lopsided loss into a 4-3 Wild win.
The rematch was also a one-goal finish after the Coyotes successfully wiped out Kaprizov's 100th NHL goal.
Kaprizov scored at 9:54 of the third, wiring a shot glove-side on Ingram, but Arizona challenged to determine if the play was off-side and a video review determined Steel preceded the puck into the offensive zone.
