Matt Read scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as the visiting Minnesota Wild spoiled a festive Saturday night in Calgary with a 4-2 victory over the Flames.
Prior to the contest, the Flames honored former captain Jarome Iginla and sent his signature No. 12 to the rafters at Scotiabank Saddledome. Iginla, who spent 16 seasons with the Flames, is the club's all-time leader in goals (525), points (1,095) and regular-season games played (1,219).
Defenseman Ryan Suter collected a goal and an assist, and Eric Staal and Ryan Donato also tallied for the Wild, who have won five in a row to remain one point behind Dallas for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Devan Dubnyk, who turned aside 35 shots on Saturday, has permitted eight goals during his five-start winning streak.
Sean Monahan scored, and defenseman Travis Hamonic also tallied for the Flames, who saw their season-high seven-game winning streak come to a halt.
With the score tied at 1, Mike Smith (19 saves) found himself caught behind the net battling for the puck with Minnesota's Joel Eriksson Ek and Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin. The puck ultimately squirted out front for an easy tap-in goal by Read at 4:13 of the third period.
Read, who was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Friday, was in the lineup in place of Zach Parise (foot).
Jordan Greenway skated up the left wing before alertly feeding Suter, who jumped into the play and wristed a shot from the slot past Smith to give Minnesota a 3-1 lead with 8:53 remaining in the third period.
Hamonic's wrist shot from the top of the right circle sailed past a screened Dubnyk to trim the deficit with 5:31 left in the third period. Donato, however, ended Calgary's comeback bid with a blast between the pads of Smith with 1:42 remaining.
Jason Zucker got the better of Calgary defenseman T.J. Brodie behind the net before sliding a pass to Staal, whose one-timer from the slot beat Smith to open the scoring at 3:17 of the first period.
Monahan fended off Wild defenseman Greg Pateryn and redirected Johnny Gaudreau's centering feed past Dubnyk to forge a 1-1 tie at 9:08 of the second period.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Calgary | |
Ryan Suter 2 | Points | Travis Hamonic 1 |
Ryan Suter 1 | Goals | Travis Hamonic 1 |
Jordan Greenway 2 | Assists | Mikael Backlund 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Devan Dubnyk .946 | Save Percentage | Mike Smith .826 |
Devan Dubnyk 35 | Saves | Mike Smith 19 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Minnesota | 23 | 4 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 6 | 30 |
Calgary | 37 | 2 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 12 | 34 |