The Minnesota Wild get one last chance to beat the Calgary Flames and they surely remember how they were beaten 7-3 in Calgary & 5-1 at The X in back-to-back games at the end of February and the beginning of March.
Those games may have opened General Manager Bill Guerin’s eyes as they were, of course, before the trade deadline when the Wild acquired some physical assets to better compete physically in the playoffs.
This game had a lot of playoff intensity since just 1 point separated them in the standings with Calgary at 110 points and Minnesota at 109 points. Calgary would obviously like to above as many teams in the Western Conference as possible so they would retain home-ice advantage if they meet those teams in the playoffs.
The Wild still had a chance to gain home-ice advantage in the first round against the St. Louis Blues since the Blues also lost on Tuesday night.
That means the Wild need 3 points in their last two games* for their playoff series to begin at home because St. Louis holds the tiebreaker.
*St. Louis has just one game remaining against Vegas tomorrow night.
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Calgary Flames
Game Recap
Calgary G Jacob Markstrom on Wild F Ryan Hartman after F Kirill Kaprizov made a turnaround pass to Hartman in the slot. Ryan Hartman was on his backhand and must’ve thought he had more time &/or didn’t realize Markstrom was a little out of position as he had most of the left side of the net open because instead of just throwing a backhand shot as quickly as possible, he tried to move to his forehand and that gave Markstrom just enough time to get across to make the save. OHHHH!
Oh my goodness what a save by Markstrom pic.twitter.com/P9438D8BsG
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 29, 2022
Hooking minor – D Jordie Benn – MN – 10:20
An aggressive Penalty Kill* from MN did a great job to kill off that power play.
*See more on the Penalty Kill in our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.
The Wild had a much different level of compete in the first period than how they played in the 5-3 loss to Arizona on Tuesday. They outshot the Flames 10-6 as they kept getting the puck in deep, got their forecheck going and played very detailed in their defensive end giving up very little to Calgary.
2nd Period
Calgary got on the board first when Flames F Matthew Tkachuk threw a blind centering pass that got a good bounce off Brodin’s skate in front of the net and Johnny Gaudreau was there and he went to his backhand and flipped it over Wild G Cam Talbot to capitalize on it. 1-0 Flames
15:51 – Flames F Mikael Backlund tripped Wild F Tyson Jost
The Wild didn’t have much going for the majority of the power play but they finally got into the zone and got some possession time. Brodin took a slap shot from the middle of the blue line on a rolling puck and it beat Markstrom just past his outstretched leg pad off the post and in. 1-1 Tie.
In another sequence, the Wild had some good zone time in the offensive zone and Flames G Jacob Markstrom lost his stick. It ended up all the way over by the right half-wall. The Flames finally cleared the zone so Markstrom went to get his stick but the Wild got the puck and quickly sent it up to F Tyson Jost but he didn’t know Markstrom was out of the net and it sure looked like he had an opportunity to fire the puck into the net from the right side of the blue line.
8:16 – Wild D Alex Goligoski tripped Flames F Johnny Gaudreau
Another very good kill for the Wild.
Late in the period, in the Wild’s zone, Flames F Tyler Toffoli had his stick between Wild D Alex Goligoski’s legs and eventually tripped him but there was no call.
The Flames got a call seconds later when F Mikael Backlund was battling with Wild F Jordan Greenway and Greener ended up cross-checking him into his goalie, Cam Talbot, who then reacted by taking Backlund down and Greenway got 2 minutes in the box with 10 seconds left in the period.
0:10 – Wild F Jordan Greenway – Interference
The Wild killed off the penalty, again.
Wild F Matt Boldy got in on the forecheck and forced a quick play from Flames D Erik Gudbranson. into a turnover to Wild F Frédérick Gaudreau** and he takes a quick shot that beat Markstrom short side just above the right pad for a 2-1 Wild lead with 8:01 remaining in regulation!
**See more on Frédérick Gaudreau in our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.
Gaudreau got another chance seconds later on a breakaway but couldn’t cash it in. OHHHH!
The Flames pushed hard in response to going down by 1 but the Wild were still playing very good detailed defense until Flames F Elias Lindholm got the puck at the middle left of the blue line and got a shot past Wild D Jacob Middleton and he hit the upper left corner to tie the game at 2 with 2:56 left in regulation.
Both teams had some chances in the final minutes but this one went to…
Overtime
34 seconds into overtime, Calgary D Rasmus Andersson got a penalty for closing his hand on the puck as he had lost his stick and was trying to keep the puck away from Wild D Jonas Brodin behind the Calgary net.
And… with 4 forwards on the ice, the Wild make quick work of that power play as Joel Eriksson Ek won the ensuing faceoff back to Kevin Fiala. He moved to the center of the blue line and passed it to Kirill Kaprizov at the left point. They spread out with Ek in front of the goalie, Ryan Hartman to the left of the net near the goal line and Kevin Fiala at the top of the right circle. Kirill skated in towards the Flames defender then passed it to Ryan Hartman at the left side of the net. Hartman moved out towards the boards as Kirill split top and left defenders then flattened out to back up to the slot at the hashmarks. Fiala skated to the middle or a little left of the middle near the top of the left circle as Hartman sent a pass to him. Fiala faked a one-timer then passed it to Kirill for a one-timer that beat Jacob Markstrom off of his mask and in the upper right for… another… Wild… Overtime… VICTORY!!!
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Final-OT
Calgary Flames 2 | 3 Minnesota Wild
Goals
MN: Jonas Brodin(5), Frédérick Gaudreau(14), Kirill Kaprizov(46)
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau(40), Elias Lindholm(42)
Assists
MN: Frédérick Gaudreau(30), Jordan Greenway(17); Unassisted; Kevin Fiala(52), Ryan Hartman(30)
CGY: Matthew Tkachuk(62), Nikita Zadorov(17), Nikita Zadorov(18), Johnny Gaudreau(75)
Goalies
MN: Cam Talbot – 31 Saves on 33 Shots on Goal – .939 Save% – 32nd Win
CGY: Jacob Markstrom – 22 Saves on 25 Shots on Goal – .880 Save% – 16th Loss
Game Notes
*
Wild Penalty Kill
The Minnesota Wild Penalty Kill has struggled for the majority of the season (26th in the NHL.) They brought it tonight and they brought aggression to it and it resulted in keeping the league’s 10th best power play off the score sheet for 8 minutes (4 penalties.)
We said above that this game would likely have playoff intensity and it did. Well, what happens in the playoffs, Teams & Players have to step it up to win in the postseason.
So…hopefully, this is the start of the Wild stepping up their Penalty Kill to help them win when the games get a lot more important.
**
Frédérick Gaudreau
We’ve wanted to talk about Freddy G for most of the season because we just love his game and it starts with how he competes. He battles for every puck and he has more skill than his history gives him credit for. His previous career-high in goals, assists & points is 3 goals, 8 assists and 10 points. The 8 assists & 10 points came last season when he played 19 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tonight, he had a goal & an assist to make his season totals, 14 goals, 30 assists & 44 points. He’s also a career-high +13. He also scored his 1st power-play goal & dished out his 1st power-play assists this season.
He has also turned up his production in the postseason as he has 4 goals & 2 assists in just 14 games in the postseason & 2 of those goals are game-winners.
He’s playing between Kevin Fiala & Matt Boldy and they’ve been pretty damn good since they were put together when Matt Boldy joined the Wild on January 6th:
Since being assembled Jan. 6, #mnwild BFF Line of Kevin Fiala, Freddy Gaudreau, and Matt Boldy has dominated opposition.
436:58 TOI
+27 shot attempt diff
+27 shot diff
+21 high danger diff
Outscoring opponents 34-17
57% expected goals share— x – Brett Marshall (@B_Marsh92) April 29, 2022
***
OVERTIME is WILD!!!
The Wild have the most Overtime goals in the Western Conference this season and the 2nd most in the league.
Remember a couple of seasons ago when the Wild were the opposite of exciting to watch in Overtime?
Overtime was almost a sure loss back then.
Oh, how times have changed! This team has had some of the most exciting moments in the extra session.
Tonight was no different. Will we see it again tomorrow night?
Postgame
Minnesota Wild Head Coach Dean Evason’s
Postgame Press Conference begins at the 14:32
On the…
Click the pic for the Link
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Next up:
The Minnesota Wild finish the regular season at home against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at 7 pm on Bally Sports North.
They need 1 point to gain home-ice advantage against the St. Louis Blues in…
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