Zidlicky's Stick Lifts Wild Past Coyotes

It was a coming-out party for Minnesota Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky, whose three points helped his team defeat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Zidlicky, the 31-year-old Czech native acquired in the offseason, scored two goals and tallied an assist, and the Wild (9-4-1) took advantage of the man advantage as the team racked up four powerplay goals against the Coyotes (8-7-0).

Eric Belanger offered a goal and an assist, and Andrew Brunette also found the net.

"We played a complete game. For 60 minutes, we played really solid hockey," Wild winning goalie Niklas Backstrom told the Star Tribune.

The Wild has won nine straight games versus the Coyotes.

On tap: The Columbus Blue Jackets (7-7-2) come to the Twin Cities to take on the Wild on Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT.