GLENDALE, Ariz. -- As the NHL season winds down, the Minnesota Wild are getting repeated up-close looks at some of the Western Conference's hottest teams.
The Colorado Avalanche. The Vegas Golden Knights. The Arizona Coyotes.
The Arizona Coyotes?
Maybe they're doing it a bit quietly after all but vanishing from the NHL radar following a terrible start in which they won only seven of their first 36 games, but the Coyotes (23-36-11) have been one of the conference's best teams during the second half of the season.
They're 11-4-2 in their last 17 games -- by comparison, it took them 48 games starting the season to win 11 games -- and they'll try to beat the Wild for the third time since Feb.