LDN - Sports

Flames hand Wild 3rd straight loss

[December 03, 2016] CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames were supposed to fall apart without Johnny Gaudreau but instead they have flourished.

Kris Versteeg and Sean Monahan scored in a shootout Friday to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Scotiabank Saddledome, leaving the Flames (12-13-2) with a 6-3-1 record without their star player, who has been out since breaking his finger on a slash by Minnesota's Eric Staal on Nov. 15.

"It was an opportunity with (Gaudreau) out of the lineup for us to embrace a style of hockey that's not only going to get you where you want to go but it's long lasting," Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said.

"It's been a good rallying point for our guys. They knew they had to come together to play solid 200-foot hockey and build from there."

Versteeg and Mikael Backlund scored in regulation time for the Flames, who have won two straight and four of their past six. Chad Johnson made 23 saves and has won six of his past seven starts.

Chris Stewart and Mikko Koivu replied for the Wild (11-8-4), who have lost three straight. Jason Pominville got the Wild's shootout goal.

"It's a lot of credit to Johnson our goalie," Monahan said. "Obviously he's been standing on his head. When a guy's making saves like that and keeps you in the game, that makes you want to go that much more.

"Another win on home ice, that's the biggest thing. Obviously Johnny stood on his head again for us, made some big saves there in the shootout and in that third period and kept us in that game. It's a lot of credit to him and we've got to build some momentum here at home."

Koivu forced overtime with his goal at 8:40 of the third. After a wild scramble in front of the net the puck came out to him in the high slot and he blasted a snapshot past Johnson's glove.

Minnesota has faltered after a strong start to the season. After going 6-2-1 in October they slid to a 5-6-2 November. They have lost three games to start a five-game road trip, including a 5-4 loss in Vancouver on Tuesday. They visit the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

"It's frustrating," said Zach Parise. "We'd love to have gotten one of these two but now we have to worry about going into a tough building (Edmonton's Rexall Place) and facing a tough team (the Oilers) and trying to beat them."

Dubnyk was more positive than his teammate.

"Sometimes long road trips where you have some days off you're not going to be as sharp," he said.

"The fact that we worked and stuck with it and got a point looks good on us.

"Of course you would like to get two (points). In the skills competition I would have liked to have made the save there, but I'm not going to worry about it too much."

The Flames had 1:58 of power play time in overtime after Wild left winger Jason Zucker was called for high sticking Flames captain Mark Giordano with two seconds remaining in the third period.

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Flames right wing Troy Brouwer (36) battles for the puck against Minnesota Wild defenseman Nate Prosser (39) and goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Both teams also had late power play chances in regulation time.

The Wild got a late power play when Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk head butted Wild defenseman Marco Scandella with 3:17 left. Wild defenseman Matt Dumba interfered with Tkachuk with 6:17 remaining.

The Wild opened the scoring at 3:50 of the first period as Jared Spurgeon's shot from the point went in off Chris Stewart's leg, giving the latter his first goal in 16 games. Stewart was also stopped on a breakaway later in the period.

The Flames took the lead with goals 67 seconds apart later in the period. Kris Versteeg flipped a rebound over Devan Dubnyk to forge a tie at 12:26 and Calgary seized the lead when Mikael Backlund arrived late to a scrum in the crease to scoop up a puck that had gotten behind Dubnyk.

NOTES: The Wild recalled tough guy RW Kurtis Gabriel from Iowa of the American Hockey League. Coach Bruce Boudreau denied Gabriel was summoned in preparation of the Flames seeking retribution for the slash that broke LW Johnny Gaudreau's finger the last time the teams met Nov. 15. "It's hard just carrying 12 forwards every night. (The Wild) play Friday and Saturday, and we play Sunday. ... If we needed a guy for that day, it would be tough to get him," Boudreau said. ... Out for the Wild with injuries: D Christian Folin (knee) and C Zac Dalpe (knee). ... The lone healthy scratch for Minnesota was RW Zack Mitchell. ... Along with Gaudreau, the Flames were without C Lance Bouma (shoulder). Both took part in practice this week, indicating they might be returning soon. ... Calgary's healthy scratches were D Brett Kulak and C Hunter Shinkaruk. ... The Flames returned LW Mark Jankowski to Stockton of the AHL. The 2012 first-round draft pick made his NHL debut on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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