GLENDALE, Ariz. _ The turnaround from a magical show in Las Vegas to the next performance in Arizona was quick, less than 24 hours.
But in that brief amount of time, the Wild's five-star effort in dancing around one of the NHL's juggernauts in the Golden Knights turned into a disappearing act against the league's last-place team.
Pucks were turned over, defense coverages broke down and the Wild struggled to generate quality looks after scoring four times in that masterpiece against Vegas.
And yet the team still managed to escape with two more points via a 3-1 win over the Coyotes Saturday at Gila River Arena courtesy a guest appearance by the fourth line.
Tied at 1-1 in the third period, the pressure applied by winger Joel Eriksson Ek along the end boards on Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun forced the puck loose for winger Daniel Winnik to deposit to the front of the net.
There, winger Marcus Foligno gobbled it up and turned before unleashing a shot on goalie Antti Raanta that scooted in 10 minutes, 51 seconds to finalize the team's first win against the 31st-ranked Coyotes in three tries (1-1-1).
It also clinched goalie Devan Dubnyk's 200th career win against the team that gave him a chance to settle in as a No.1 with the Wild; since Dubnyk was traded by the Coyotes to the Wild on Jan. 14, 2015, he leads all NHL goalies in games played (223), games started (219) and shutouts (19) and ranks second in wins (130).
The victory also was coach Bruce Boudreau's 499th; he will have the chance to record No. 500 Monday when the Wild play host to the Los Angeles Kings.
It looked like the Wild might have parlayed some of the momentum they received on the Strip from a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights Friday into puck luck in another desert.
Just 7:35 into the first, winger Nino Niederreiter capitalized on the power play for his 17th goal of the season when he was left alone in front of the Coyotes' net to put back a Matt Dumba rebound that bounced off Raanta, who ended up with 28 saves.
The Wild, who scored just 14 seconds into the man advantage, had two more opportunities in the first but couldn't convert. Overall, they finished the game 1 for 5. Arizona went 0 for 2.
But the team sabotaged any chance of growing that first-period lead through poor decision making. The Wild gave up a slew of odd-man rushes to the Coyotes, continually getting caught in the offensive zone as the home squad transitioned the other way.
And the Coyotes made the Wild pay, as a two-on-nobody look matured into a breakaway for rookie Clayton Keller, who slipped the puck five-hole on Dubnyk 4:03 into the middle frame for his 20th goal of the season. Dubnyk finished with 30 saves.
Not too long after, winger Richard Panik had another solo look on Dubnyk after the play started to develop into a 3-on-0 but Dubnyk was able to get a paw on the puck.
Both sides traded chances the rest of the period, and the start of the third didn't offer much of an edge for either side _ until that shift by the Wild's fourth line.
Center Eric Staal added an empty-netter with 18 seconds to go for his team-leading 38th goal and 70th point.
