ST. PAUL, MN (AP) — Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in his second shutout of the season as the Minnesota Wild topped the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello and Jared Spurgeon scored for the Wild. Kahkonen won his ninth straight start during a standout rookie season.
Minnesota swept three consecutive home games against Arizona and extended its home winning streak to eight, the longest in the NHL this year.
Adin Hill made 23 saves for the Coyotes.
Hartman scored his fourth goal 1:37 into the third straight game between the teams. The familiarity and a major penalty added to a chippy game. Carson Soucy was given a five-minute major for charging Conor Garland when he left his feet and made contact with Garland’s head.
Lawson Crouse then initiated a fight as soon as Soucy left the penalty box. Crouse was given a penalty and game misconduct for instigating. The teams combined for 47 penalty minutes but were a combined 0 for 7 on the power play.
Zuccarello got his fifth goal of the season in the third. Zuccarello missed the first 11 games with an upper-body injury, but has 19 points in 16 games since returning and has been quite the match with NHL rookie scoring leader Kirill Kaprizov to pace Minnesota’s offense.
The Wild are first in the league in wins, points and goals since Feb. 18, going 12-2-1.
Kaprizov isn’t the only Minnesota rookie showing well. Kahkonen’s nine straight wins are the longest streak by an NHL netminder this year and he started the day sixth in the league in save percentage and eighth in goals-against average for goalies with at least 10 games.
Spurgeon added his first goal late in the third period.
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