Wild fire coach Mike Yeo, following 8th straight loss

The Minnesota Wild have fired coach Mike Yeo and named John Torchetti the interim replacement, following their eighth straight loss.

Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher confirmed the firing in a statement released Saturday night by the team.

Yeo guided the Wild to the franchise’s first playoff series win in a decade in 2013, but was never able to get past the second round, and his Wild teams lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs the past three seasons.

The Wild are sixth in the Central Division and are on a run of eight consecutive defeats.

“I knew what he said the other day, and I’m a realist”, Yeo said.

Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo watches from the bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Dallas.

“I wish I could transport that to our home games, but we just seem to be ready to play and seem to be able to continue to play more or less, for the 60 minute span”, Bruins coach Claude Julien said. They’ve lost six in a row, allowing an average of 4.17 goals per game and failing to create much offense.

David Krejci broke a tie in the second period, 35 seconds after Minnesota scored, and backup goalie Gustavsson made 31 saves for the Bruins.

Officials credited Krejci with the goal following a replay, with the puck seemingly entering the net as it was knocked off the moorings by Niederreiter. In 2003-04, he had a 10-12-4-1 record with the Florida Panthers and was 5-7-0 for the final 12 games of the 2005-06 season with the Los Angeles Kings.

This season, his undermanned Iowa team got off to the worst start in the AHL’s Western Conference. Torchetti had guided Iowa to a record of 15-29-3-3 through 50 games this season.

There was no immediate word on who would be taking over. Fletcher isn’t expected to address the media until after he speaks with the team before the get on the plane for a three-game Canadian road trip Sunday.

He also served as head coach of the San Antonio Rampage in 2002-03.