Having watched their 10-game winning streak end with a thud, the Calgary Flames look to bounce back when they host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in the first of home-and-home games.
After outscoring opponents 42-15 during their streak, the first-place Flames were routed 7-1 by the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. The Calgary streak began with a 1-0 overtime win over the Canucks on Jan. 29.
“We had won 10 in a row for a reason,” Calgary’s Blake Coleman said. “We’re a really good hockey team and this is part of the growth of our group is being able to respond after what I view as an embarrassing loss and put together good game at home.”
The Canucks went 3-for-7 on the power play, with all three coming during a five-goal second period that broke the game open.
“I thought 5-on-5 our first two periods were really good,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “I think we took two dumb penalties that cost us and missed probably two or three close-to-breakaway or Grade-(A chances) in the first period.”
Andrew Mangiapane scored his 26th goal of the season for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom made his fourth straight start. He stopped 18 of 21 shots before being replaced by Dan Vladar late in the second period because of a skate issue. Vladar allowed two goals in the second period and two more in the third.
Calgary is 14-4-4 at home and has won 10 straight at the Saddledome.
The Wild, 3-5 since the All-Star break, are looking to solidify their playoff position in the Western Conference as they complete a difficult road trip. After opening the four-game swing with a 7-3 win at Edmonton, the Wild have managed a combined four goals in losses at Ottawa and Toronto.
Minnesota and Toronto were tied until the midway point of the third period when Auston Matthews stole a puck to set up a 2-on-1 with Mitchell Marner, and then scored to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead.
“One mistake or one special player, right?” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. “We really liked our game, certainly. They didn’t have a shot for 10 minutes in the first period. We did a lot of really good things, and it was just a matter of one break and somehow and they got it.”
Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves for the Wild, who have lost four of five, and Frederick Gaudreau scored.
It was Gaudreau’s sixth goal in the 43rd game of the season, twice his previous career high (three in 55 games for Nashville in 2018-19). The forward has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past 12 games.
Kevin Fiala picked up an assist and has six points (three goals, three assists) in a three-game point steak. He has 25 points, with 13 goals, over his past 20 games.
The Wild have a chance at a .500 road trip that but will be facing a Flames team smarting from Thursday’s rout.
“If we’re not prepared, we’re in trouble,” Evason said. “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 teams complete the home-and-home Tuesday at Minnesota.
–Field Level Media
