GLENDALE Mark Stone Jersey , Ariz. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper has gone from backup to backstop in goal for Arizona this season.Kuemper made 36 saves for his second straight home shutout and Josh Archibald had two goals as the Coyotes continued a playoff push with a 4-0 victory over Minnesota in the closest thing to a playoff elimination game each team has faced this season.“We wouldn’t be where we are at without his game,” Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk said of Kuemper. “Again tonight, he made a couple of game-changing saves. He’s been our best player the whole year. You have to give him all the credit.”Kuemper began the season behind Antti Raanta, but took over when Raanta suffered a season-ending lower-body injury in late November. Kuemper has career highs in starts (53) and victories (26) and has started 20 straight games, tied for third-longest for a goalie in franchise history.“A lot of guys are feeding off him,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “He’s calm during the off days. He’s calm during practice and he’s calm during the game. That exudes a lot of confidence to your players when your goalie is like that.“Goalies can do that to a team, lift a team, and obviously, ‘Kemps’ is the heartbeat of our team.”Kuemper had his second shutout in three games overall, and the Coyotes moved within one point of Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with three games to play. The Avalanche have four games remaining.The Coyotes, who have not made the playoffs since 2012, have won 10 of their last 12 at home.One of Kuemper’s key saves came with three minutes remaining, when he stopped a rising slap shot from the slot by Brad Hunt with three minutes remaining to keep the game 2-0, Kuemper shut out Chicago 1-0 on Tuesday and has three shutouts in March.“It feels good,” Kuemper said. “Huge win. It keeps us alive. The guys did a great job in front of me. They allowed me to see it (puck). It always takes a full team to get a shutout Youth Matt Duchene Jersey , and we had everyone tonight. We need some help. We need Colorado to lose. But we feel like if we win these last three, we have a good chance here.”Devan Dubnyk made 19 saves for the Wild, who have lost eight of 11 since beating Tampa Bay 3-0 on March 7, when they were three points ahead of Arizona and four points ahead of Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the west. The Wild pulled Dubnyk with 2:59 left.Galchenyuk scored his 18th goal in the first period, and Archibald and Vinnie Hinostroza had empty-netters in the final two minutes for the Coyotes (38-33-8), who have rebounded after losing six of seven, including one in overtime and two by shootout. They had nine goals in those seven games.Galchenyuk poked a loose puck past Dubnyk at 7:48 of the first period after Oliver Ekman-Larsson flipped a shot on net from the left circle and Dubnyk could not control the bouncing puck.“Keep fighting,” Galchenyuk said. “Same approach we’ve had for the last month or two now. Same mentality. We keep pushing. We’re still in it. A couple of games left. We have to battle it out.”The Wild’s Jason Zucker had a breakaway with six minutes left in the first period, but could not get off a shot when Niklas Hjalmarsson was penalized for slashing. The Coyotes killed the penalty to preserve their lead.Archibald gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the final minute of the second period when he skated in on the right side and beat Dubnyk with a wrist shot high to the glove side.NOTES: Coyotes F Nick Schmaltz to a seven-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season on Saturday. Schmaltz has five goals and 14 points in 17 games with the Coyotes after being acquired from Chicago on Nov. 25. He has not played since Dec. 30 because of a lower-body injury. … Wild F Zach Parise (lower-body injury) missed his fourth straight game. He has a team-high 26 goals. … The Wild finish the season with home games against Winnipeg and Boston and a road game at Dallas. All have clinched playoff berths. … Dubnyk leads NHL goalies in games (66) and road victories (19) this season.UP NEXTWild: Play host to Winnipeg on Tuesday. The Wild have won the first four games of the five-game season series.Coyotes: Play host to Los Angeles on Tuesday. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes are trying to take things one game at a time, and suddenly they’re in contention for a Western Conference wild-card spot with a six-game winning streak.Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Vinnie Hinostroza each had a goal and assist, and the surging Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Coyotes have won six in a row for the first time since Feb. 16-28, 2012.Josh Archibald added his 10th goal of the season for Arizona, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 22 shots for his seventh straight win.“That’s the heartbeat of a team, the goaltending Mike Condon Jersey ,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said of Kuemper, who took over as the No. 1 goalie when Antti Raanta went down with an injury in late November. “He knows nine out of 10 games he’s going to play, and he’s taken it to a different level.”Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit, which has lost five straight. Jimmy Howard finished with 41 saves.“I’d say it’s a step forward, but it’s another loss. We’ve got to make sure we come out and our details on our game are great,” forward Justin Abdelkader said. “With each individual guy, we’ve got to make sure we’re giving it our all and working through it, because the only way we’re going to get out of this is working through it.”Hinostroza scored with the Coyotes clinging to a one-goal lead, putting in a rebound of his own shot after the goal horn sounded prematurely at 4:37 of the third period.The Red Wings had let up and thought the goal should’ve been disallowed, but after review it was deemed to be good, and the Coyotes moved out to a 3-1 lead.“Every day’s a playoff game,” Hinostroza said. “Whomever I’m on the ice with is playing great. It’s just important for us to keep this going, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end.”The Coyotes, who lost 6-1 to the Red Wings in Detroit in November, struck first on Saturday and outshot the Red Wings 44-23. Ekman-Larsson’s cross-ice pass found Archibald on the right wing Ryan Dzingel Jersey , and his shot eluded Howard at 5:58 of the first period.Before the period had ended, Ekman-Larsson registered his second point of the game. His shot from the left wing at 15:40 bounced up and crossed the goal line in midair before rattling out of the net.Ekman-Larsson has a five-game point streak, with seven points in the span. He left for the dressing room midway through the second period after a mid-ice collision but returned after a few minutes.“I kind of stuck my leg out a little bit and got caught with their guy, and got scared for a little bit. But it’s all good,” Ekman-Larsson said.The Coyotes were inches from an even bigger lead, but Howard made a glove save on a shot by Hinostroza from close range with 10:51 left in the first.The Red Wings got on the board at 7:35 of the second period, in the last second of a power play. Larkin stuffed in Niklas Kronwall’s pass, cutting the Coyotes’ lead to 2-1.Larkin leads Detroit with 27 goals and 62 points.NOTES: Former Coyotes center Antoine Vermette, who registered 149 points in 291 career games with Arizona, dropped the ceremonial first puck before the game. … Ekman-Larsson reached 640 career games with the Coyotes, tied with Keith Tkachuk for sixth in franchise history. … The Coyotes played their first game this season without center Derek Stepan, who is out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday against Vancouver. … Red Wings F Anthony Mantha played in his 200th career NHL game. … The Detroit bench was issued a bench minor penalty for delay of game early in the third period.UP NEXTDetroit: At Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.Arizona: Hosts Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.