Monday, December 23, 2024

NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild (35-21-6) at Calgary Flames (27-22-13)

MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:

SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
CALGARY FLAMES
All-Time Wild Record: 41-43-15 (25-16-9 at Xcel Energy Center, 16-27-6 at Calgary)

2022-23: The Wild fell in the first season meeting, 5-3, at Scotiabank Saddledome (12/7)…C Connor Dewar (0-2=2), D Jon Merrill (1-1=2) and C Mason Shaw (1-1=2) led Minnesota with two points each… LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-0=1) also scored a goal…G Marc-Andre Fleury saved 22-of-26 shots faced for Minnesota…D Rasmus Andersson (1-2=3) and C Elias Lindholm (0-3=3) led Vancouver with three points each…C Blake Coleman (1-1=2), C Adam Ruzicka (0-2=2) and RW Tyler Toffoli (2-0=2) all added multi-point performances…G Dan Vlader stopped 25-of-28 shots faced for the Canucks.

WILD LEADERS: D Jared Spurgeon leads the Wild with 13 points (5-8=13) in 37 games against Calgary…D Alex Goligoski owns 10 assists in 39 contests…LW Marcus Foligno has nine points (7-2=9) in 20 matches.

WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 14-6-1 with a 2.13 GAA, a .930 SV% and five shutouts in 22 career starts vs. Calgary…G Filip Gustavsson is 2-0-0 with a 1.61 GAA and a .949 SV% in three games (two starts).

FLAMES LEADERS: Toffoli leads the Flames with 18 points (9-9=18) in 25 games played against Minnesota …C Mikael Backlund leads the Flames with 17 points (6-11=17) in 37 matches…C Nazem Kadri owns 16 points (8-8=15) in 29 games…Lindholm owns 16 points (5- 11=16) in 18 games.

FLAMES GOALIES: G Jacob Markstrom is 5-2-2 with a 2.55 GAA and a .912 SV% in 10 games (nine starts) vs. the Wild…G Dan Vladar is 1-0-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .893 SV% in one start.

FAST FACTS: Minnesota is 15-11-4 in its last 30 games against Calgary…The Wild owns points in 26 of its last 36 games in Saint Paul (19-10-7) and is 13-9-2 in its last 24 games at the Saddledome after starting 3-18-4

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
3/3/23 Acquired a second-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft and a fifth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for LW Jordan Greenway. Buffalo previously acquired the 2023 second-round selection from the Vegas Golden Knights
3/3/23 Acquired C Oskar Sundqvist from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft
3/3/23 Acquired D John Klingberg from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for D Andrej Sustr, the rights to F Nikita Nesterenko and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Anaheim retained 50% of Klingberg’s salary
3/3/23 Reassigned D Dakota Mermis to Iowa

ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild has converted 28.6 percent (28 of 98) of power-play opportunities at home this season, fourth-best in the NHL.

• Since Jan. 19, Minnesota ranks tied for second in the NHL with 13 power-play goals. Minnesota is 13-for-56 (23.2%) with the man advantage during that span, eighth-best in the NHL, and has scored a power-play goal in 12 of 19 contests.

PENALTY KILLERS
• Had a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games snapped by allowing a PPG to Vancouver (3/2). Did not allow a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season)

• For the season, the Wild is ninth in the NHL with a 82.0 penalty-kill percentage (160 for 195).

• Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is fifth in the NHL with a 83.9 penalty-kill percentage (135 for 161).

• Minnesota is seventh in the NHL with a 82.2 penalty-kill percentage (83 of 101) on the road this season.

CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:

FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
March 2, 2023 – CALGARY FLAMES [1] vs. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS [2]
The Calgary Flames welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Scotiabank Saddledome amid a three-game homestand on Thursday night. Blake Coleman opened the scoring for the Flames just 2:32 into the game with his second shorthanded goal of the season and the Flames were up 1-0 through 20. In the second, both teams fired 14 shots on goal but it was Mitch Marner who scored the only goal to tie the game at ones. Calle Jarnkrok would give Toronto the lead 2:20 into the third, and the Leafs held on to win 2-1.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Coleman (14)
GOALIE: Markstrom (32/34, .941 Sv%)
PP: 0/2 (0%)
PK: 2/2 (100%)
FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 1-2-2
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
March 2, 2023 TOR [2] vs. CGY [2] Jarnkrok Markstrom Woll
February 28, 2023 BOS [4] at CGY 3 McAvoy Vladar/Markstrom Ullmark
February 25, 2023 CGY [1] at COL [4] Newhook Markstrom Georgiev
February 23, 2023 CGY [3] at VGK 4 Pietrangelo Vladar Brossoit
February 22, 2023 CGY [6] at ARI [3] Pelletier Vladar Vejmelka
*shootout winning goal

FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
March 4, 2023 8:00pm vs. Minnesota Wild Scotiabank Saddledome
March 6, 2023 6:30pm at Dallas Stars American Airlines Center
March 7, 2023 6:00pm at Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
March 10, 2023 7:00pm vs. Anaheim Ducks Scotiabank Saddledome
March 12, 2023 7:00pm vs. Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Saddledome

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the second of three matchups this season between the Flames and Wild. The Flames won 5-3 in the clubs first meeting in December. This is a Pacific Division versus Central Division matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 7-7-2 against Central Division opponents this season and a record of 16-10-5 against Western Conference opponents.

LAST MEETING WITH THE WILD:
The Calgary Flames welcomed the Minnesota Wild to the Scotiabank Saddledome back on December 7th. The Flames fell behind early with Kirill Kaprizov and Mason Shaw both scoring before the three-minute mark to make it 2-0 Wild through 20. However, in the second period it would be the Flames who would come out of the gate flying, first with Nazem Kadri scoring just 16 seconds into the frame on the powerplay followed by Blake Coleman netting his fifth and Tyler Toffoli deflecting home his ninth and with just 3:11 gone in the second, the Flames had flipped the script and taken their first lead of the night, 3-2. Calgary would maintain that lead until 15:45 of the third when Jon Merrill’s point shot took a deflection to tie the game. Off the ensuing draw the Flames would gain possession and 12 seconds later Rasmus Andersson’s backhand would beat Marc-Andre Fleury to help the Flames regain the lead 4-3. Toffoli would add an empty netter for his second of the night, and the Flames closed out a five-game homestand with a 5-3 win over the Wild.

CALGARY FLAMES vs. MINNESOTA WILD
CGY vs. MIN ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
54-29-4-12 30-11-3-5 24-18-1-7 7-2-1 W1

GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Minnesota Wild
8:00pm MT
Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: CBC, Sportsnet, City
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960

2022-23 Season Series: 0-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road 0-0-0)
Dec. 7, 2022 – MIN [3] at CGY [5]
Mar. 4, 2023 – MIN at CGY
Mar. 7, 2023 – CGY at MIN

2021-22 Season Record vs. MIN: 2-0-1 (Home: 1-0-0, Road: 1-0-1)
Last Home Win vs. MIN: December 7, 2022 – Minnesota [3] vs. Calgary [5]
Last Road Win @ MIN: March 1, 2022 – Calgary [5] at Minnesota [1]
Last Home Loss vs. MIN: March 2, 2019 – Minnesota [4] vs. Calgary [2]
Last Road Loss @ MIN: April 28, 2022 – Calgary [2] at Minnesota 3

2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Feb. 5 – recalled Jakob Pelletier (F) and Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL)
Feb. 6 – activated Chris Tanev (D) from IR
Feb. 21 – recalled Walker Duehr (F) from Calgary (AHL); placed Michael Stone (D) on IR
Mar. 3 – acquired Dryden Hunt (F) from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Radim Zohorna (F)
Mar. 3 – acquired Troy Stecher (D) and Nick Ritchie (F) from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Brett Ritchie (F) and Connor Mackey (D)

FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 47)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (3 games: Dec. 14 – Dec. 18)
Radim Zohorna – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 18)
Dennis Gilbert – lower-body injury (4 games: Dec. 20 – Dec. 27)
Brett Ritchie – upper-body injury (8 games: Jan. 8 – Jan. 26)
Chris Tanev – injury reserve (2 games: Jan. 26 – Jan. 27)
Rasmus Andersson – day-to-day (3 games: Feb. 9 – Feb. 13)
Michael Stone – lower-body injury (4 games: Feb. 22 – Mar. 2)

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