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 Both Haula and Pominville, a right winger, had a goal and an assist
to lead the Wild to a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames at the
Scotiabank Saddledome.
"You don't think about stuff like that," said Haula, who one-timed a
feed from Pominville past Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller at 10:22 of
the first period and then drew an assist on his linemate's game
winner at 18:16 of the second. "He made a great play to me and he
played a great game. It doesn't matter at this time who scores, but
it's always nice to get the line involved."
Center Nino Niederreiter chipped in with two assists to give the
line six points as the Wild (25-22-10) won their second straight
game under interim head coach John Torchetti.
"Any win on the road is a good win," said Torchetti. "When it was
3-2, that was a huge goal, that fourth one. It was good to have a
good second period and keep getting better and build from there."
Center Mikko Koivu had a goal and an assist, while left winger Jason
Zucker and Charlie Coyle also scored.
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves to record his 20th win of
the season.
Defenseman Deryk Engelland, right winger David Jones and center
Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames (25-28-3), who have lost three
straight games.
"We didn't have it tonight," said Jones. "In the first period, they
were picking us apart. We always play hard in the third when we're
down, but we have to find a way to have that tenacity when the
game's 0-0."
Appearing in his sixth straight game, Hiller stopped 19 of 23 shots
he faced in a losing cause.
Backlund pulled the Flames within a goal at 15:49 of the third when
he kicked a pass from defenseman TJ Brodie onto his stick for an
easy tap-in at the side of the net.
Coyle then scored into an empty net with 42.8 seconds remaining to
secure the win for the Wild.
"It was a good way to finish it, especially at the end we had to
battle out and play tight," said Koivu. "For sure, that's the way
you build confidence back again."
Dubnyk had to be sharp in the early going as he stopped a backhand
shot from the slot by Flames center Sean Monahan.
Looking to give his team a boost, Engelland leveled Wild center
Mikael Granlund with a big check into the boards behind the Calgary
net at the midway mark of the opening period.
On the next shift, it was the Wild that responded as Haula one-timed
a nice pass from Pominville past Hiller to open the scoring.
Minnesota went up by a pair at 19:34 of the first on a shorthanded
goal by Zucker, who made a nice move to cut around Flames rookie
defenseman Jakub Nakladal before snapping a perfect shot to the top
corner off the post and in behind Hiller.
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Minnesota extended its lead to 3-0 at 3:09 of the second during a
two-man advantage when defenseman Ryan Suter's point shot deflected
off Flames blue-liner Mark Giordano and then Koivu past Hiller. Wild
left winger Zach Parise also had an assist to record his 600th NHL
point.
Calgary then cut into Minnesota's lead with a pair of goals as
Engelland scored his first in 56 games at 11:28 of the second before
Jones notched his first in 15 contests just over five minutes later.
"We battled back," said Calgary coach Bob Hartley. "I give credit to
our players, but we just can't put ourselves into those situations."
Jones' shot from the slot hit Wild defenseman Mike Reilly's stick
before deflecting off blue-liner Matt Dumba's face and into the net
behind Dubnyk.
"I definitely haven't scored one like that," said Jones. "It felt
good to finally get one. It's been a little while, so hopefully it
can lead to a little more offense from our line."
Flames defenseman Ladislav Smid left the game late in the first
period with an upper-body injury and didn't return.
NOTES: The Flames received bad news on two fronts Wednesday. The
team announced that G Karri Ramo will miss the remainder of the
season with a torn ACL and meniscus damage he sustained last
Thursday during a game in San Jose against the Sharks, while NHL
commissioner Gary Bettman upheld a 20-game suspension for D Dennis
Wideman, who cross-checked a linesman to the ice during a Jan. 27
home game against the Nashville Predators. ... Flames D Kris Russell
missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury, while C
Lance Bouma and LW Brandon Bollig were also scratched. ... Minnesota
scratched LW Chris Porter, G Niklas Backstrom and D Marco Scandella.
... The Wild wrap up their three-game road trip Thursday in Edmonton
against the Oilers, while the Flames finish up their three-game
homestand Friday against the Vancouver Canucks.
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reserved.]
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