Arizona Coyotes let 3rd-period lead slip in loss to Wild

Joel Eriksson Ek broke a third-period tie and the Minnesota Wild beat the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night at Mullett Arena.

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mar 7, 2024, 10:20 PM

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Connor Dewar #26 of the Minnesota Wild shoots the puck on goaltender Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Arizona Coyotesduring the first period of the NHL game at Mullett Arena on March 07, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

TEMPE (AP) — Joel Eriksson Ek broke a third-period tie with his 29th goal, Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves and the Minnesota Wild beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Thursday night.

After Zach Bogosian pulled the Wild even at 2-2 two minutes into the third period, Ek beat goalie Karel Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:16.

Kirill Kaprizov had his 30th goal, Brock Faber and Connor Seward added empty-netters and Mats Zuccarello had three assists. Fleury had his second victory in three weeks at Mullett Arena and is 19-10-1 against the Coyotes.

Vejmelka made 23 saves for the Coyotes. They have lost two in a row and 16 of 18.

Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored seven seconds apart in the first 1:28 of the third to give Arizona a 2-1 lead, but Bogosian tied it 32 seconds later when he put a wrist shot through a scramble in front of the net.

Wild forward Jack Lucchini made contact with Vejmelka in the crease on the play, but the Coyotes’ challenge for goalie interference was denied.

Kaprizov opened the scoring on a power play with 1:51 left in the second period. With Sean Durzi off for tripping, Kaprizov took a cross-ice pass from Zuccarello and found the open right corner.

The Coyotes have given up five power play goals in the last two games. Chicago had four power plays goals in a 5-2 victory Tuesday night, matching the most such goals allowed by the Coyotes since the franchise moved from Winnipeg in 1996.

Arizona held out forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba for “trade-related” reasons, the team said. Forward Nick Bjugstad missed the game for family reasons. Arizona traded defenseman Troy Stecher to Edmonton after Stecher went through the morning skate Thursday.

The Coyotes host Detroit on Friday night, their third home game in four days.