In St Paul Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild were outplayed for most of their match with the Calgary Flames. But in the third period, they rallied for two goals to force extra time.
Mikael Granlund and Jared Spurgeon scored in the third to help the Wild recover.
But, Dougie Hamilton struck midway through the overtime session to help the Flames recover and grab a 3-2 win.
Mike Smith made 33 saves in 3-2 OT win over Wild Tuesday night – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
“[Hamilton’s] hot, he’s just hot, give him the puck, you know,” Mike Smith said. “Johnny [Gaudreau] made two good plays tonight to set up goals, and we need that from our top line, and it was nice to see Dougie get rewarded again.”
Micheal Ferland and Sean Monahan scored in the first and second periods to give the Flames a 2-0 lead heading to the third.
“It was nice to get the lead for sure, but to be honest, I don’t think it was one of our better games we’ve played, especially lately,” Smith said. “I think we’ve played a lot better games lately, but saying that, you never complain too much about getting a win. You can nitpick all you want about the game, but the main thing is we got the two points and we found a way to do that and we push forward.”
Smith made 33 saves in picking up the win.
“[Smith’s] back there, I think he’s been unbelievable,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think we’re in these games if it’s not for him. He played great again today.”
The win pushed the Flames to 22-16-4.
“In the third period, I thought we sat back a little bit too much. We should have pushed. But they’re a good team. You’re not going to come into somebody’s building when you’re fighting and you’ve got two quality clubs, and just push them around all night,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said after the game.
The Wild dropped to 22-17-4 with the loss but were grateful, to some extent, for the loser’s point.
[WATCH: All Flames vs. Wild highlights]
Alex Stalock made 26 saves in the loss.
“One [point’s] better than none, I guess,” Spurgeon said. “I think third period we played more our game, more aggressive, and our speed and holding on to the puck was a key factor in getting those chances. We’ve got to find a way to do that for 60 minutes.”
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