With stars back, Wild face Flames on verge of clinching playoffs

The Minnesota Wild have an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs when they visit the Calgary Flames on Friday.

The Wild (43-29-7, 93 points) hit the road with a renewed sense of confidence after a roller-coaster 8-7 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, in which the return of forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek was akin to the cavalry arriving in time to save the day.

Kaprizov scored twice, including the overtime winner, in a three-point outing after missing 28 games due to injury, while Eriksson Ek netted a career-best four goals in his return after missing 21 outings.

“I’m happy for a lot of different reasons in that respect. It’s hard on those guys,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “They’re obviously tremendous competitors, they mean so much to the team and personally. … They were huge difference-makers in the game.”

The Wild hold the first wild-card position in the Western Conference, tied with the St. Louis Blues, although Minnesota has played one fewer game.

The Wild have won two straight games following a stretch with only one victory in seven outings. Minnesota led 7-4 early in the third period against the Sharks, only to watch their edge evaporate in the final minute of regulation before Kaprizov’s heroics.

“It was not our best defense game. But it’s nice win,” Kaprizov said. “We take these two points.”

Even against the low-scoring Flames, the Wild know they must be better defensively.

“We found a way to win and that’s all that matters,” said Matt Boldy, who netted four assists. “Take what we can. We scored a lot of goals, if you want to look at a positive, but yeah, we can be better for sure.”

The Flames (37-27-14, 88 points) return home essentially in a must-win position as they look to rebound following a gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Calgary appeared to have the game in hand, holding a 3-1 lead with four minutes remaining in regulation. The Ducks, though, scored a pair of goals eight seconds apart and then completed the comeback in the extra period.

“Everything was good,” Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “That’s when leadership and everybody has to step up and shut that game down. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost us big time.”

Calgary is five points behind the Wild and Blues with four games remaining in the regular season. The Flames have won twice against Minnesota this season but are 0-3 against St. Louis.

Basically, the Flames head into this clash knowing they must win all four remaining games and receive help on the out-of-town scoreboard.

Regrouping after a crushing loss that has put Calgary’s playoff hopes on life support will be a huge test for the club that has defied expectations all season.

“We should be disappointed, it’s 3-1 and the game should be over, but now, there is nothing we can do about it,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “All we can do is make sure we’re ready to for our next game at home, against Minnesota. That’s what we have to do, and the best thing that we can do is make sure we bring our best effort.”

–Field Level Media