Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Arizona

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
ST. PAUL -- Minnesota's final sprint to the end of the regular season commences Tuesday night when the Wild hosts the Arizona Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center.
Three games remain before the start of the postseason, and while the team's participation in the Stanley Cup Playoffs -- as well as it's opponent once it gets there -- isn't up for debate, plenty remains at stake.
First and foremost, where Games 1 and 2 will be played once the series against the St. Louis Blues begins next week.
The Wild and Blues begin the day Tuesday tied for second in the Central Division with 109 points apiece, but Minnesota has three games remaining while St. Louis has just two.
Take care of business on home ice, as the Wild has for much of the 2021-22 season, and it would secure home-ice advantage in the First Round.
That mission begins Tuesday when the Wild hosts the rebuilding Coyotes, who have spent much of the past couple of years stockpiling young talent and future assets.
Arizona will be the stars of this summer's NHL Draft, boasting seven picks in the first two rounds of the selection meeting. And that's after it sent a second-round pick to Minnesota last month for the rights to forward Jack McBain, who has since made his NHL debut.
But that commitment to the future has come at the cost of the present, as the club has traded away a number of viable pieces to help it be more competitive this season.
That has been evident down the stretch, as Arizona enters play Tuesday having lost 10 consecutive games.
But that doesn't mean the Coyotes will simply roll over. The Blues found that out on Saturday night, when Arizona rallied from three goals down in the third period to force overtime, a game St. Louis would go on to win 5-4 in the extra session.
Minnesota has done a good job all season of not playing down to its competition, and will need to do so again on Tuesday, especially with home ice in the First Round still on the line.
In that regard, it could get back at least some reinforcements to a lineup that has been battered by injuries over the past few weeks.
The Wild is coming off a gutty 5-4 overtime win of its own Sunday in Nashville, a game where it played without Matt Dumba, Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello and for most of the game, Jared Spurgeon, after he departed with an upper-body injury midway through the first period.
Dumba and Greenway who have missed the past couple of weeks with upper-body injuries, were on the trip to Nashville and could be getting close to a return. Wild coach Dean Evason said he expects them to play at least once before the start of the playoffs.
Foligno, who has missed the past week on the COVID-19 protocol list, is expected to make his return to the lineup on Tuesday.
Zuccarello and Spurgeon don't seem likely to play as Evason has stressed getting as healthy as possible ahead of the playoffs. Zuccarello sustained a lower-body injury Friday against the Seattle Kraken and did not play in the win over the Predators.
Neither Zuccarello or Spurgeon are considered long-term injuries that will cost them playoff games, but with the postseason secured, there's little reason to rush them back.
Especially with how well the Wild has performed while weathering its current batch of injuries.
Minnesota enters the game on a 10-game point streak, going 8-0-2 during that span. It is the third time this season the Wild has strung together a 10-game point streak, becoming just the eighth team in NHL history and the first in 22 years to do so.
As guys shift back into the lineup, it could be interesting to see how Evason balances rest over the final week as well. Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman are the only two players who have skated in all 79 games this season. Kirill Kaprizov has played in 78 games.
All could be candidates for a night off this week.
Fiala and Kaprizov have been on fire of late, with Fiala nailing down his second consecutive NHL Second Star of the Week honor this week, after he tallied 11 points in four games last week, including the win over the Kraken, where he tallied a club-record five assists in a game.
Fiala has had multiple points in five consecutive games entering play Tuesday, and could tie Zuccarello's franchise record streak set back in January with at least two points against the Coyotes.
Another item to keep an eye on this week is how Evason sets up his goalie rotation heading into the playoffs. Marc-Andre Fleury has started the past two games after Cam Talbot started the previous two games.
Talbot seems likely to draw the start against the Coyotes. The veteran netminder hasn't lost in regulation over his past 15 starts, going 12-0-3 during that stretch.
While the Coyotes have seen plenty of change this season, one constant has been veteran winger Phil Kessel. The former Gopher has played in all 79 games for Arizona this season and is the NHL's reigning iron man, having skated in every game since the start of the 2010-11 season. His streak currently stands at 979 straight games, 10 shy of Keith Yandle's all-time record which was snapped last month.
Kessel has just seven goals this season, the fewest of his NHL career, but has chipped in 42 assists. With one more point, he'd reach 50 for the 11th time in his career and first since arriving in the desert in 2019.
Leading scorer Clayton Keller has missed the past several weeks after sustaining a serious leg injury on March 30 against San Jose. Despite missing nearly a month, Keller is the only Coyote with at least 25 goals and 60 points.
Other Arizona players who have missed significant time over the course of the season include Nick Schmaltz and Jakob Chychrun. Schmaltz has been a catalyst of late, 21 goals and 45 points over Arizona's past 40 games since Jan. 22.
McBain has one assist in seven games since making his NHL debut earlier this month. Former Minnesota State Maverick Nathan Smith, acquired in a Trade Deadline-day deal with the Winnipeg Jets, has two goals and an assist in his first seven NHL games. Both of Smith's goals have come in the last three games.
Goaltender Karel Vejmelka has seen plenty of rubber this season, posting a .900 save percentage and a 3.61 goals-against average in 50 games with a record of 12-32-3 in 47 starts.