The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
CALGARY — A long and winding road trip through Canada will come to a close on Saturday night when the Wild plays the Calgary Flames in the fourth and final game of this four-game sojourn at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Minnesota is 1-2-0 on the trip so far, following a win last Sunday over Edmonton with a pair of close losses, a 4-3 defeat in Ottawa and a 3-1 decision Thursday night in Toronto where the Leafs scored an empty-net goal with under a minute to play.
But a win Saturday would help salvage the trip, especially considering the difficult nature of the opponents: three of the four clubs are currently inside the postseason bubble, including the Flames, who began the day Friday atop the Pacific Division, four points clear of second place Vegas and with a game in hand.
That lead was bolstered by a recent 10-game winning streak, which was snapped at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks in resounding fashion on Thursday, a 7-1 loss at Rogers Arena.
Calgary boasts the second-best goal differential in the Western Conference and fourth-best in the league at plus-49 and its 14-4-4 record on home ice is one of the best in the NHL.
“If we’re not prepared, we’re in trouble,” said Wild coach Dean Evason. “They’re gritty. There’s so many different elements. We’ll get pushed into the fight and we like that our guys will enjoy that challenge.”
The Wild is coming off a game where it did a much better job of limiting grade-A scoring chances, an area of its defensive game that had slipped in the previous handful of games.
Toronto had less than a half dozen grade-A chances, getting a pair of Auston Matthews goals and one by Alex Kerfoot into an empty net to secure the win.
But it’s that kind of attention to detail in the defensive end that Minnesota will need once again, especially considering the Flames’ 121 goals against are fewest in the NHL.
“I think our focus is most importantly to do the right thing and focus on playing that honest game that I know we can play and believing that when we do that, most of the time, we come out with the win,” said Wild forward Freddy Gaudreau. “I think we just gotta stick to what we know is our identity and I think it’s pretty simple, it’s just being honest within our game, making sure our mindset is always focusing on doing the right stuff, believing that positive is going to come out of that after.”
Gaudreau is one of a handful of Wild forwards who enter the game scorching hot of late, having tallied a point per game over his past eight games, including Minnesota’s only goal in Toronto.
His linemates, Kevin Fiala and Matt Boldy have been equally hot, with Fiala boasting six points in his past three games and 25 points, including 13 goals, over his past 20 games.
Boldy’s 17 points in 18 games since his NHL debut on Jan. 6 ranks second among all rookies in the league over that span.
Netminder Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves in Toronto, losing in regulation for just the second time in his past 11 starts, going 8-2-1 in those games. He’s allowed a total of just three goals in those two regulation defeats.
Whether Kahkonen starts, or it is former Flame Cam Talbot is unknown, as the Wild didn’t hold practice in Calgary on Friday. Talbot went 12-10-1 in 26 games (22 starts) with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage with Calgary in 2019-20, his final season before signing with the Wild in the summer of 2020.
The last time these two clubs played at the Saddledome was Jan. 9, 2020, and Talbot made 42 saves in a 2-1 win for Calgary over Minnesota.
The loss by Calgary on Thursday was its first in the month of February and came on the heels of a perfect seven-game homestand. The Flames are in the midst of a big stretch of games at the Saddledome, where they will play 12 of 15 between Feb. 9 and March 12.
Calgary averaged 4.7 goals per game on its recent homestand and didn’t allow more than two goals in any of those contests.
The Flames’ lone goal Thursday was the first time since Jan. 29 it was held under two goals in a single game.
Four Flames have tallied at least 20 goals on the season, led by Andrew Mangiapane’s 26. Matthew Tkachuk (24), Elias Lindholm (23 and Johnny Gaudreau (20) are the others. Ten Calgary players have at least 22 points.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom enters as one of the NHL’s top goaltenders, going 23-11-5 with a 2.11 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage and a league-leading eight shutouts. Half of his 16 career shutouts (339 starts) have come this season, as Markstrom has already surpassed his wins total from last season in three fewer games.
The game on Saturday marks the first of a home-and-home set between the former Northwest Division rivals; the clubs will have a rematch Tuesday night in St. Paul. They will conclude their season series April 28 at Xcel Energy Center.
The Saddledome was once a house of horrors for the Wild, which won just three times in its first 25 trips to Calgary. It has had more success in recent years, going 13-7-2 in its past 22 games here.