Nick Bjugstad recorded his second career hat trick, and the Arizona Coyotes cruised to a 6-0 win over the host Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in St. Paul, Minn.
Bjugstad, who was born in Blaine, Minn., scored twice in the first period and once more in the second period. Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist for the Coyotes, and Alex Kerfoot also scored.
Kirill Kaprizov returned from a seven-game injury absence to lead the Wild with five shots on goal. Minnesota dropped to 1-7-1 in its last nine games.
Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram stopped all 38 shots he faced to notch his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and the sixth of his career. The 26-year-old netminder stopped eight shots in the first period, 16 shots in the second period and 14 shots in the third period as he improved to 15-8-0.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson made his first start since Dec. 30, when he sustained a lower-body injury against the Winnipeg Jets. Gustavsson showed some rust as he gave up five goals on 18 shots Saturday.
Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Gustavsson in net midway through the second period. He turned aside 14 of 15 shots on goal.
Arizona set the tone with three goals in the first period.
Kerfoot started the scoring on the power play 5:07 into the game. He blasted a one-timer from the right side of the crease for his sixth goal of the season.
Bjugstad scored the Coyotes’ next two goals. He scored on even strength to make it 2-0 and followed that with a power-play goal to give Arizona a 3-0 advantage at the first intermission.
Keller increased the Coyotes’ lead to 4-0 at 1:51 of the second period.
Bjugstad achieved the hat trick less than five minutes later. The ex-Minnesota Golden Gophers collegiate star buried a shot from the right circle to make it 5-0.
Keller capped the scoring 38 seconds into the third period. He scored on a breakaway for his second goal of the game and his 17th of the season.
–Field Level Media
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