ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Wild's Tyler Graovac got opportunity with Erik Haula hurt on his second shift, and the young centerman took advantage of it.
Graovac, who centered all four lines throughout Saturday's 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes, played like somebody lit his skates on fire as the Wild extended its win streak to seven games for the first time since March 14-27, 2013.
Graovac scored a second-period goal and had several scoring chances as the Wild improved to 9-1-3 in their past 13 games (21 out of a possible 26 points) and won for a sixth straight occasion at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild have outscored their past four opponents, 17-5.
Ryan Suter, a plus-3 to increase his league-best plus-minus to plus-22, Chris Stewart and Eric Staal also scored for the Wild and Darcy Kuemper, giving Devan Dubnyk the game off with his first start since the Wild's last regulation loss Nov. 29, had 27 saves for his first win since Nov. 13 and second regulation win of the season.
The Wild (18-8-4), one of two teams in the West with fewer than 10 regulation losses, improved to 9-1-2 in their past 12 meetings with the Coyotes and extended its point streak against them to nine games.
The scoreboard may have not shown it, but the Wild dominated the game. The scoring chances were a 5-to-1 margin. Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba all hit posts, Nino Niederreiter was denied by Mike Smith on three Grade A chances and Zach Parise swung and missed at a rebound.
The Wild played most the game without Haula, who sustained a lower-body injury early in the first after being checked into the corner boards by defenseman Connor Murphy. Haula played the next 30 seconds but looked to be wincing with every movement.
Graovac moved up between Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle, and every time Mikko Koivu or Staal took a turn between fourth-liners Stewart and Teemu Pulkkinen, Graovac got to pivot the first and second lines. He logged a career-high 18 minutes, 45 seconds.
It was between Zucker and Granlund that Graovac made it 2-0 off pure hustle. After blocking a shot, Graovac skated down the right wing as Zucker caught up for a 2-on-1. Graovac tried to cross a pass to Zucker, but he partially fanned and the puck banked in off Smith's pad for Graovac's first point in 13 games and third career goal.
Star Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson took back-to-back penalties 2:57 apart in the first period and three in the game. The Wild came close to scoring on the first power play and did on the second when Suter's wrist shot deflected past Smith. It was Suter's first goal in 16 games and the 10th time in 12 games the Wild scored first.
The Wild extended its lead to 3-0 in the third when Murphy overskated Jared Spurgeon's dump-in. Stewart simply gobbled up the puck, cut to the net from the corner and buried his third goal in eight games.
