Nick Bjugstad hat trick, Connor Ingram shutout leads Coyotes to win over Wild

Nick Bjugstad scored a hat trick in two periods, Clayton Keller scored two goals to reach 150 for his career and Connor Ingram stopped 38 shots in a 6-0 victory at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

The Coyotes (20-18-2), after a 1-4 homestand with four multiple-goal losses, attacked the Wild (17-19-5) with three goals in the opening period. Two came from Bjugstad, a Minnesota native who played at the University of Minnesota.

Alex Kerfoot scored the game’s first goal on the power play, as Keller picked up an assist along with Sean Durzi. Bjugstad scored off a beautiful pass from Michael Kesselring and picked up Arizona’s second power play goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Keller and Bjugstad added goals in the second period to go up 5-0, and Keller scored his second goal on a breakaway in the third past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who replaced Filip Gustavsson.

There’s scoring a hat trick, and then there’s scoring a hat trick in your hometown. 😁

Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/s3tcr6T6uM

— NHL (@NHL) January 14, 2024

Keller moved to No. 9 on the franchise list for points with 380, passing Jeremy Roenick and Laurie Boschman, the latter of whom played for the Winnipeg Jets before their move to Arizona. Keller is two goals away from reaching Roenick and Boschman for ninth in team history.

He has scored in three straight games.

This all occurred with Ingram stifling shot after shot. The Wild got one past him in the second period, but it was called back for goal interference.

Ingram picked up his league-leading fifth shutout.

Head coach Andre Tourigny’s group gave an inspired effort after a 6-2 loss to the Flames on Thursday in Tempe, and the Coyotes will head to Calgary for a rematch on Tuesday.

Follow @alexjweiner