The three-game sweep of the NHL from Monday features three teams on losing skids and we start in Vancouver where the visiting Minnesota Wild debuted their new head coach, John Torchetti, in a 5-2 win over the Canucks.
Torchetti yapped at his players the entire game in an effort to motivate them.
“He’s always talking, always going over stuff,” Charlie Coyle said. “He still keeps 
the mood light, but he lets you know when he wants things done differently in a positive way.”
Coyle was one of five players to score for the Wild including Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon, Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter.
“It kept us into the game. It kept life in there,” Parise said. “You’re held accountable to make the right play all the time.”
Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves to snap his own nine-game skid and the team’s eight-game slide.
“I was holding out hope that it was going to happen again,” Dubnyk said. “It would have been nice if it was a little sooner, but I think the feeling that we had, the way we worked in the first period, we just weren’t going to be denied.”
Christopher Tanev and Henrik Sedin scored for the Canucks who fell to 22-22-12.
“Right from the start of the game, there was a lot of energy from us,” Parise said. “There was life in the room and on the bench.”
The Wild played a better game than they had for a long time for former coach Mike Yeo who was fired.
“When you take over jobs, there is a reason why you are here and you just have to make sure to try and build confidence in the team and pat them on the back here and there, but also let them know if there is a different play that is an option,” Torchetti said. “I’ve been there. We’re not winning, so I’m not going to be all over you hard, but I think I can still do a good job holding you accountable but also giving you better options.”
In Chicago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were routed by the Blackhawks, 7-2, to continue their own spiral down.
The loss left the Leafs with a 20-26-9 record.
Patrick Kane had a goal and four points in the win.
“We wanted to come in tonight and not take this game lightly,” said Kane, who leads the NHL with 82 points and scored his 34th goal. “We wanted to make sure we were playing the right way and capitalize on our chances. I don’t want to say it was an easy game. [Toronto was] still effective 5-on-5. I thought our power play was effective and kind of took over the game there to give us some breathing room.”
In addition to Kane’s goal, Andrew Shaw, Artemi Panarin, Teuvo Teravainen, Brandon Mashinter, Brent Seabrook, and Viktor Svedberg scored for the Blackhawks; four of the goals came on the power play.
“Obviously, [our] penalty kill wasn’t near good enough and we took too many penalties, so no, we weren’t in the game basically from the start,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “[We] turned the puck over right away early in the first. They were better than us. I thought we played a much better second, more of an even game, but you’re down three. Then, they just buried us on the power play.”
The Leafs got goals from Mark Arcobello and PA Parenteau.
“They have so much talent,” Parenteau said. “Every line is coming at you. As soon as you turn the puck over, you make a mistake, they’re going to make you pay in this league. They’re that good. You have to learn your lesson and next time you play them, you have to be ready to go from the start.”
Scott Darling made 35 saves for the win.
In Glendale, the secondary theme of the night was the winning club getting individual goals from skaters. The Arizona Coyotes got six goals from six different players in a 6-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens.
Martin Hanzal, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Duclair, Brad Richardson, Kevin Connauton, and Antoine Vermette all scored for the Coyotes.
“We were talking before the game about going hard to the net and making it hard on the goalie,” Hanzal said. “We got the first couple of goals with hard work, and [Duclair] was very good tonight. These are games we have to have now.”
Dale Weise and Brendan Gallagher were the Habs goal scorers.
“There was a lack of energy and emotion, and we need that,” Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban said. “Everyone has to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are playing their best hockey right now. You can’t feel sorry for yourself or anyone else, you have to play your best and find your way.
“We need guys playing with heavy hearts and being emotional, and we just didn’t have that today.”
Louis Domingue made 17 saves for the Arizona win.
Arizona’s Anders Lindback was injured in warm-up and could not start with a lower-body injury.
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