How can an already miserable loss to one of the NHL's bottom feeders get worse after the fact?
When the Wild whiffs on the chance to gain ground in the neck-and-neck race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs because the team it's jostling with banks zero points for the first time in almost a month.
That's right, the Blues finally stumbled after a mind-boggling 14-0-2 surge with a rare blip to the Avalanche.
But the Wild couldn't take advantage because it had a bigger gaffe earlier in the evening, a 5-3 eyesore to the lowly Coyotes on Tuesday night in front of an announced 18,383 at Xcel Energy Center that ended the team's 10-game point streak.
So, the Wild and St. Louis remain tied at 109 points; the Wild is still ahead for now, in second place in the Central Division, because it's played one game fewer than the Blues.
"It's a tough one, obviously," Jordan Greenway said. "One we're going to, hopefully not — but one we might wished we had back."
This was the Wild's first regulation loss since April 5 and only the second in 22 games, and it ended the team's home point streak at 13 — one game shy of breaking the franchise record.
A power-play goal by Arizona's Travis Boyd 10 minutes, 22 seconds into the third period was the difference.
- NHL standings: Conference | Wild Card
Not only did it halt the Wild's comeback, which was stoked by two goals 24 seconds apart earlier in the period, but the Wild also lost momentum from a lengthy unsuccessful challenge to see if the play was offside. The NHL ruled there wasn't conclusive evidence to show the Coyotes were offside, so the goal counted and the Wild was dinged with a delay-of-game penalty.
"I don't know how they do their video, but our video shows that he's offside," coach Dean Evason said.
Phil Kessel added an empty-net goal with 1:19 to go, but signs of a letdown by the Wild popped up much earlier.
"We got what we deserved," Evason said. "It's hard to find a good player here tonight."
Despite scoring first, the Wild didn't have its usual aggressiveness and wasn't as physically engaged as it normally is; the team finished with seven hits and 38 shots, this after racking up 22 shots in one period last game.
Ryan Hartman tallied his 34th goal 11:05 into the first period, and Matt Boldy's assist extended his career-high point streak to 10 games to become the first rookie to have a double-digit point streak since Arizona's Clayton Keller's 10-game run in 2017-18.
But the Wild never ran away from the Coyotes even though it had plenty of looks on the power play, with Kevin Fiala drawing three penalties in his first game in 11 without a point. Overall, the Wild went 0-for-6 with just five shots with a man advantage. Arizona was 1-for-4.
"When the power play is good, we shoot the puck. We get it back," Joel Eriksson Ek said. "Today, the power play should have won that game for us."
With 1:45 left in the second, the Coyotes tied the Wild on a shot by Anton Stralman from inside the right faceoff circle before Jack McBain scored his first NHL goal on a deflection 20 seconds into the third.
McBain, drafted by the Wild, was traded to Arizona last month after he informed the Wild he wouldn't be signing with the team.
Before long, Antoine Roussel doubled the Coyotes' lead at 2:56.
That seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Wild.
A backhander by Eriksson Ek sailed in at 4:51, his 26th goal and fifth during a career-high three-game goal streak. Kirill Kaprizov picked up his second assist of the game and his 105th point on his 25th birthday.
Then on the very next shift, Marcus Foligno poked in a loose puck at 5:15 to bring the Wild back to equilibrium. He and Eriksson Ek totaled two points apiece.
"Usually we win these games," Eriksson Ek said.
But the rally fell short, dropping Marc-Andre Fleury to 8-2 with the Wild after his 21-save effort. Karel Vejmelka had 35 stops for Arizona, which won for the first time in 11 games.
"I've got to be better," Fleury said. "I feel like I'm giving up a lot of goals lately. It's making me mad. But keep working and keep practicing hard and move on to the next one."
