 and victories (26) and has started 20 straight games, tied for third-longest for a goalie in franchise history.''A lot of guys are feeding off him,'' Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. ''He's calm during the off days. He's calm during practice and he's calm during the game. That exudes a lot of confidence to your players when your goalie is like that.''Goalies can do that to a team, lift a team, and obviously, `Kemps' is the heartbeat of our team.''Kuemper had his second shutout in three games overall, and the Coyotes moved within one point of Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with three games to play. The Avalanche have four games remaining. The Coyotes, who have not made the playoffs since 2012, have won 10 of their last 12 at home. One of Kuemper's key saves came with three minutes remaining, when he stopped a rising slap shot from the slot by Brad Hunt with three minutes remaining to keep the game 2-0, Kuemper shut out Chicago 1-0 on Tuesday and has three shutouts in March.''It feels good,'' Kuemper said. ''Huge win. It keeps us alive. The guys did a great job in front of me. They allowed me to see it (puck). It always takes a full team to get a shutout, and we had everyone tonight. We need some help. We need Colorado to lose. But we feel like if we win these last three, we have a good chance here.''Devan Dubnyk made 19 saves for the Wild, who have lost eight of 11 since beating Tampa Bay 3-0 on March 7, when they were three points ahead of Arizona and four points ahead of Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the west. The Wild pulled Dubnyk with 2:59 left. Galchenyuk scored his 18th goal in the first period, and Archibald and Vinnie Hinostroza had empty-netters in the final two minutes for the Coyotes (38-33-8), who have rebounded after losing six of seven, including one in overtime and two by shootout. They had nine goals in those seven games. Galchenyuk poked a loose puck past Dubnyk at 7:48 of the first period after Oliver Ekman-Larsson flipped a shot on net from the left circle and Dubnyk could not control the bouncing puck.''Keep fighting,'' Galchenyuk said. ''Same approach we've had for the last month or two now. Same mentality. We keep pushing. We're still in it. A couple of games left. We have to battle it out.''The Wild's Jason Zucker had a breakaway with six minutes left in the first period, but could not get off a shot when Niklas Hjalmarsson was penalized for slashing. The Coyotes killed the penalty to preserve their lead. Archibald gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the final minute of the second period when he skated in on the right side and beat Dubnyk with a wrist shot high to the glove side. NOTES: Coyotes F Nick Schmaltz to a seven-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season on Saturday. Schmaltz has five goals and 14 points in 17 games with the Coyotes after being acquired from Chicago on Nov. 25. He has not played since Dec. 30 because of a lower-body injury. ... Wild F Zach Parise (lower-body injury) missed his fourth straight game. He has a team-high 26 goals. ... The Wild finish the season with home games against Winnipeg and Boston and a road game at Dallas. All have clinched playoff berths. ... Dubnyk leads NHL goalies in games (66) and road victories (19) this season. UP NEXTWild: Play host to Winnipeg on Tuesday. The Wild have won the first four games of the five-game season series. Coyotes: Play host to Los Angeles on Tuesday.---More NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Time: 5:00 PM EDT Venue: Gila River Arena, Phoenix, Ariz., 85305 / The Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild are on the wrong side of the playoff picture as the NHL schedule heads into its final week. The Coyotes (37-33-8, 82 points) and Wild (36-33-9, 81 points) will bid to improve their standing at the other's expense on Sunday when they meet in Glendale, Ariz. Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson capped his ninth two-goal performance of his career by scoring with 51 seconds remaining in the third period on Friday, but Arizona was unable to secure the extra point in its 3-2 shootout loss Colorado. The setback was the sixth in seven outings (1-3-3) for the Coyotes, who fell three points behind the Avalanche for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference." I think that could be a huge point at the end of the day," the 27-year-old Ekman-Larsson said. "So we'll take that one and move forward and hopefully get in the playoffs. It's going to be a little bit harder now." Ekman-Larsson has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games for Arizona, which is attempting to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12 when the club was known as the Phoenix Coyotes. Conversely, Minnesota hasn't missed the postseason since 2011-12, but it is looking to make a late push after posting a 3-2 victory at Vegas on Friday for just its third win in 10 outings (3-6-1)." It's desperate, we know where we're at," Wild center Eric Staal said after scoring and setting up a goal against the Golden Knights. "We were crossing our fingers that Arizona beat Colorado (on Friday) just to kind of tighten it up a little bit more." The 34-year-old Staal has 20 points (14 goals, six assists) in 22 career encounters versus the Coyotes, including the go-ahead goal in the third period of Minnesota's 2-1 win on Oct. 16. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon set up a goal in that contest and had three assists in the Wild's 4-3 setback to Arizona on Nov. 27. Devan Dubnyk turned aside 35 shots versus Vegas and has yielded just 13 goals in his last six games (3-3-0). The 32-year-old, who spent a portion of the 2014-15 season with the Coyotes, made 31 saves in the victory against Arizona on Oct. 16 before allowing four goals on 14 shots in the November rematch. Dubnyk owns a 7-7-4 record with a 2.80 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in 19 career appearances versus the Coyotes. He is expected to get the nod on Sunday for Minnesota, which carries a 7-1-1 mark in its last nine visits to Arizona into the pivotal contest." We've got to focus on our next game. Our next game is probably going to be the toughest game of the year," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I think whoever loses is probably for sure out." Darcy Kuemper has permitted just 15 goals in his last nine games, but only has a 3-3-3 record to show for it. The 28-year-old, who spent five seasons with Minnesota, made 26 saves in his lone career start against the Wild on Oct. 16.--Field Level Media
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