National Hockey League
Minnesota 4, Arizona 3
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 19, 2017
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Eric Furlatt, Jon McIsaac
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Tim Nowak
Attendance: 19027

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Two quick goals by the Arizona Coyotes proved the Minnesota Wild would be in for another unexpectedly tough home game.

The two game-tying goals in the second period also provided the waking jolt Minnesota needed this time.

Nino Niederreiter scored twice on the power play, including the game-winner with 7:06 left, to propel the Wild to a 4-3 win against the Coyotes on Thursday.

Niederreiter added an assist, and Eric Staal and Chris Stewart also scored as Minnesota won for the 18th time in 22 games. Devan Dubnyk made 20 saves for the Wild, who gave up a two-goal lead for the second game in a row to a team in the bottom three in the NHL in scoring.

"Actually them scoring two goals late, as mad as I was, was probably good for us because it woke us up for the third period," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Wild, who have lost consecutive games in regulation just once this season, didn't recover and lost 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Niederreiter helped Minnesota avoid another letdown.

Arizona veteran forward Shane Doan went to the penalty box for hooking and Niederreiter redirected a pass from Mikael Granlund for the game-winner. It was Niederreiter's second two-goal game in his past five contests. He has six goals and five assists in his past 11 games.

The Wild have at least one power-play goal in 13 of the last 16 games and is second in the NHL with 15 power-play goals and a 31.9 power-play percentage since Dec. 15.

"I feel like we have two very good power play units," Niederreiter said. "Whichever is hot is the one he puts out there. It's been fun obviously starting. I feel like we're doing a good job with it creating some goals, creating some momentum. That's what's good about having a good power play."

Brendan Perlini, Jakob Chychrun and Jamie McGinn scored for Arizona, which has lost 12 of its past 15 games in regulation. Shane Doan added two assists for the Coyotes, and Louis Domingue stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced.

Minnesota appeared ready to cruise against the worst-scoring team in the NHL when Staal scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season just 4:39 into the game.

Arizona was playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing 6-3 in Winnipeg on Wednesday, and its fifth in seven days. The weary Coyotes showed enough legs against the Wild.

"Yeah, we were engaged in that game," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "That was a hard game, especially with a hard back-to-back. We had a lot of guys play very hard. We could have used a couple more saves and take a couple of mistakes out of our game. But we're looking for an effort part of it, and that's the first step right now."

Perlini, Arizona's first-round draft choice in 2014, continued to add some scoring punch with his fourth goal in six games midway through the first period. The rookie forward has seven goals in his first 20 NHL games.

Niederreiter scored on the power play in the first to regain Minnesota's advantage and Stewart gave the Wild a 3-1 lead with a breakaway goal with 4:27 left in the second.

Chychrun answered just 23 seconds later with his second goal in as many games. McGinn's eighth of the season gave the Coyotes two goals in 30 seconds.

"That's a great job by our team of responding," McGinn said. "That's showing growth in our team to not give up, and not sit back and kind of die on the bench. We went out and tied it up right away which is a good sign."

NOTES: Minnesota recalled D Mike Reilly from the American Hockey League on Thursday with D Jonas Brodin (broken hand) out at least a month. Reilly was scratched for Thursday's game, however, with D Nate Prosser joining the lineup after being scratched in nine of the previous 10 games. ... Arizona assigned F Anthony Duclair to Tucson of the AHL before the game. The team activated C Ryan White from injured reserve. He missed 11 games with a lower-body injury. ... The Coyotes were without C Martin Hanzal for a second straight game due to a family matter. ... Wild F Zach Parise was relegated to the third line with Erik Haula and Jordan Schroeder for the start of Thursday's game. Parise is seventh on the team with just eight goals this season to go with 12 assists, despite being second on the team in shots. Parise has four goals in his past 22 games.
Top Game Performances
 
Arizona   Minnesota
Shane Doan 2 Points Nino Niederreiter 3
Jakob Chychrun 1 Goals Nino Niederreiter 2
Shane Doan 2 Assists Jason Pominville 3
N/A Power Play Goals Nino Niederreiter 2
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Louis Domingue .840 Save Percentage Devan Dubnyk .870
Louis Domingue 21 Saves Devan Dubnyk 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Arizona 23 3 0-2 2-4 17 16
Minnesota 25 4 2-4 2-2 13 32
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Wild have a W/L % of .655 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Arizona will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .357 after a win and .258 after a loss.