When the puck hit the twine during Sunday’s win over the Detroit Red Wings, Charlie Coyle felt a large weight lifted from his it shoulders .

Coyle caught a pass from teammate Jason Pominville near the blue line, raced past defenseman Nick Jensen, feinted goaltender Jared Coreau and roofed a shot in to snap a 16-game goalless drought that spanned more than a month.

Great play from Charlie Coyle to leave Jensen in the dust, score on breakaway pic.twitter.com/agrM3hTKCH — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 12, 2017

“Obviously, I’ll take it,” Coyle said. “Hopefully there are more to come.”

The goal came after coach Bruce Boudreau moved Coyle to center midway through the game. It was the third time in less than a week that the switch has benefited Coyle: He had three assists while manning the middle in a a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets last Tuesday, and had an assist playing center in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks last Wednesday.

Those recent success, coupled with the fact that Coyle has struggled to put up points at wing, raises the question: Is it time for the Wild to permanently move Charlie Coyle to center?

“It really doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “It could change tomorrow. I’ve been doing this a while. I’ve gone back and forth my entire life. It’s nothing new. I’ll play wherever they want.”

Coyle’s numbers speak for themselves. He has six points in the two-and-a-half games that he’s seen action at center. That comes after he coasted through a rather ineffective January (8 points) that hit a boiling point when Boudreau dropped Coyle to the fourth line against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 4.

Since that wake-up call Coyle has points in 3 of 4 games, doing most of his damage while playing center. His success in the middle spelled doom for Tyler Graovac, who was placed on waivers on Monday.

“We wanted to make room for (Coyle) in the middle,” Boudreau explained. “He handles the puck more when he’s in the middle — and if it that makes him better, then that’s good.”

Coyle said playing center allows him to pick up more speed through the neutral zone.

“Sometimes it’s a little easier to do that (at center),” Coyle said. “That’s where I can pick up my speed when I’m coming through … the zone and I can get that pass in the middle. Sometimes, when I’m at wing, I’m caught a little flat-footed. My first couple steps aren’t my strong point. When I get up to speed, that’s when I can skate. Maybe it benefits that a little bit.”

Coyle was centering Zach Parise and Jason Pominville at Monday’s practice, the same trio Boudreau concocted midway through Sunday’s game against the Red Wings.

“I think the biggest thing is his speed going through the middle,” Parise said. “It opens up the ice a lot for us.”

“I like him at center,” said Pominville. ” I feel like one of his best assets is his speed, and when he’s at center he’s able to utilize his speed a little bit more. … I feel like at center he can keep his momentum going a little bit better. Maybe a little more starts and stops on the wing. He has been skating really well at center. Once he has the puck on his stick with speed he’s a dangerous player. It’s fun that he’s going again.”

Coyle said the biggest adjustment has been stepping back into the faceoff circle on a regular basis. He has gone 14 of 34 on recent faceoffs, though he’s confident that will improve if he moves long term.

“You’ve got to be focused. You’ve got to turn the brain on,” Coyle said. “I feel like I’m a stronger guy, so I’ve got to use that to my advantage. It’s a lot of talk on faceoffs. You have to work on it.”

Nino Niederreiter, who has played opposite Coyle for most of the season, isn’t surprised to see him succeeding in the middle.

“He is very strong through the middle, and when he carries the puck there, usually good things happen,” he said. “He is a very important piece for us. He is a very powerful player … and he can be extremely productive. … It was a matter of time before he started to get those bounces and he started rolling again.”