Post-game Takeaways After Flames win 3-1 over Wild

The Calgary Flames bent but did not break on Tuesday night in Minnesota en route to a 3-1 win over the Wild. Missing the likes of Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Jonas Brodin, the Wild were forced to adjust to a systems-heavy, committee-style offence. Calgary leaned into riding transition and trading chances with the Wild and, ultimately, left the Xcel Energy Center with two more points in the standings after winning 3-1.

Calgary opened the scoring 11:40 into the first period on an offensive drive that Mikael Backlund simply refused to let die down. The Flames captain made a diving pass to maintain possession in the offensive zone after Andrew Mangiane nailed the puck off the post. The pass made its way to MacKenzie Weegar, then to Andersson, who teed up a slap shot. Mangiapane got the touch on the shot, and the Flames were up 1-0.  

The goal served as Mangiapane’s first in nine games.  

The Flames weren’t done slump-busting as minutes later, Jonathan Huberdeau went forehand-backhand off a Yegor Sharangovich feed to end an 18-game goalless slump. 

The Wild clawed their way back into the fight with a 3-on-2 odd-man rush that resulted in Minnesota forward Patrick Maroon putting away a Nic Petan rebound.  

The hottest Flame of December, Blake Coleman, put the game away in the third period with an empty net goal. While he didn’t get credit on the first goal, Mikael Backlund recorded a primary assist on Coleman’s back-breaker.  

Takeaways After a 3-1 Flames Win

-AJ Greer made the most of his 10:42 of ice time against the Wild. While the former waiver claim didn’t find his way onto the score sheet, Greer managed to keep the defence on its heels in nearly every shift. The 27-year-old from Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Quebec, recorded seven shots, and Calgary outshot the opposition 9-2 at 5v5 with Greer on the ice.  

-Another big night for Jacob Markstrom. While Head Coach Ryan Huska may want to tap the breaks on consecutive starts a bit – the 33-year-old has now started every game since returning from a fractured finger on Dec. 18 – it’s difficult to argue with the results. The Flames number-one goaltender leads the league in starts since his return and ranks fourth in save percentage since then at .936. 

-Dillon Dube continues to struggle quietly. Another night off the scoresheet makes it 16 games without a point. With that said, he, Adam Ruzicka, and AJ Greer were doing good things on the ice tonight. With all three on the ice, the shot total was 7-0 and 11-1 in chances for and against. Very good numbers for a fourth line. 

The Flames have tomorrow off before playing the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Another 6 p.m. MST puck drop.