(St. Paul, MN) — The Wild are back on the ice tonight in St. Paul as their five game homestand continues against the Arizona Coyotes. The Wild have won each of the first two games starting with a 7-1 win over Winnipeg on Friday followed by a 4-2 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. The win over the Lightning improved the Wild’s record to 14-6-1 as they’ve won nine of their last 13 overall including three straight. While the Wild currently lead the Central Division, the Coyotes are last having dropped two straight and 17 of 21 this season. Wild and Coyotes face off tonight at 7 P-M from Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild will retire former captain Mikko Koivu’s #9 later this season.
The Minnesota Wild announced it will retire Mikko Koivu’s jersey number in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday, March 13 when the team hosts the Nashville Predators at 5 P-M. Koivu will be the first player in franchise history to have his jersey retired. He recorded 711 points (206-505=711), 594 penalty minutes and a plus-68 rating in 1,035 games during 16 seasons in the N-H-L (2005-21). Koivu is the franchise’s all-time leader in a number of categories including games played (1028), assists (504) and points (709). Koivu was drafted by the Wild with the sixth overall selection in the 2001 N-H-L Draft on June 23, 2001 at National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida. After 15 seasons with the Wild he signed as a free agent with Columbus on Oct. 10, 2020, and played in seven games with the Blue Jackets before announcing his retirement on Feb. 9, 2021.