Carson Soucy was listening as the referees debated whether to toss him from the game for his hit on Arizona's Conor Garland along the boards Tuesday night.
"I would like them to do that on the other side next time so I don't have to hear," Soucy said after the game.
What he ultimately picked up was that he would remain in action but not until he served a 5-minute major for charging – a lengthy power play for the Coyotes that could have erased the Wild's slim one-goal advantage at the time.
The Wild defenseman will have a hearing today with the NHL Department of Player Safety to determine if there should be additional discipline.
The Wild's penalty killers withstood Arizona's pressure to preserve its lead and set up a 3-0 win Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center that tied the franchise record for longest win streak at home at eight games.
"It goes by really slow when you're sitting in there all by yourself and these guys are grinding out there," Soucy said of the penalty killers, who went a perfect 4-for-4 on the night. "I know [Ian Cole] took one right in the hand, but they sacrificed and obviously did a great job."
Once Soucy exited the penalty box, it wasn't long before he was sidelined again.
He was immediately accosted by the Coyotes' Lawson Crouse, with Crouse getting ejected from the game for instigating the fight with Soucy. Although he was on the receiving end, Soucy still had to sit five minutes for fighting.
"I would have liked a chance to be ready for it," Soucy said. "I understand he's sticking up for a teammate, but I'm not going to say no. I know he's protecting his player. I would just like him to give me a chance to not be almost changing on the bench, but he's protecting his guy."
All of this happened while the Wild was up 1-0, a lead center Ryan Hartman supplied less than two minutes into the game. Hartman's goal was a tough blow to a Coyotes squad that had dropped the previous two games against the Wild and three in a row overall.
"We wanted to make it hard on them," Hartman said. "They had some pushes. They had some chances to score, and we let them hang around until the third. We didn't get those goals until late. Would have been nice to score a couple more there early in the first to kind of get them really out of it. But we did a good job."
Next up for the Wild is a visit to Colorado to take on the Avalanche twice.
Although the team has been cruising at home, sitting 10-3 overall after sweeping this five-game home stand, the Wild has been productive on the road.
Before going 1-2-1 on its last trip, the Wild had won four straight games as the visitor.
