In St Paul, Kirill Kaprizov hit for the game-winner with 44 seconds gone in extra time on Thursday to give the Wild a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames, the goal came off the power play.
Cam Talbot made 31 saves in the Wild win.
“These points were big for us tonight,” Talbot said. “It was a playoff-type atmosphere, and that’s kind of what we needed after the last game (5-3 loss to Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday). Just a kick in the pants last game, and to have a playoff-like atmosphere tonight against one of the best teams in the West and a team we’re going to have to go through in the playoffs, that’s a confidence builder moving forward for sure.”
Minnesota are two points clear of the St Louis Blues for second in the Central Division.
The Wild improved to 52-22-7.
Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames, it was his 40th of the campaign, his goal gave Calgary a 1-0 lead.
“We had lots of opportunities to win,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “We got taken to the cleaners in the face-off circles. That cost us a couple goals.”.
Calgary dropped to 50-20-11.
“It’s the way we’ve been playing all year,” Johnny Gaudreau said. “I’ve been very fortunate to play with a lot of good players in my career, and these two are right up there.
“It was cool (to score the 40th). Unfortunately, it wasn’t the outcome we wanted as a team.”
Jonas Brodin tied the game, 1-1 for Minnesota.
Frederick Gaudreau scored for the Wild to give them a 2-1 lead.
“We talked before the game this team looks a lot like the team we’re going to play in the playoffs (the St. Louis Blues),” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “They’ve got a lot of skill, they play right, they play hard. They’re gritty, so it was a nice test to see how we played. Obviously, it’s great to have this success because clearly we’ve got another one tomorrow and we’ve got an opportunity now to get to home ice, obviously. But it’s nice to reinforce a lot of things that are playoff-type hockey.”
Elias Lindholm forced the extra session with a goal in the third period to tie it, 2-2.
“Our last two games of the season are really good challenges, of course, and like you said, it couldn’t be better than playing those teams before we jump into the playoffs,” Frederick Gaudreau said. “But I think our focus is just a game at a time really. And tonight, I think we kept that good focus. It was a shift at a time actually, and we did a good job, and now we’ll try to do the same thing tomorrow.”
Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves in the Flames loss.
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