Happy New Year!

SAINT PAUL - Third time was the charm.

The Flames held off a furious third-period push from the Wild en route to a 3-1 victory, winning the final tilt of a three-game set this season with Minnesota after dropping the first two outings.

With the victory, Calgary improved to .500 on the season at 16-16-5.

Andrew Mangiapane and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Flames, while Blake Coleman added an empty-netter. Jacob Markstrom had another stellar outing, making 28 saves.

Marc-Andre Fleury – who played his 1,000th game in a 3-2 loss to the Jets on New Year's Eve - stopped 30 for Minny.

The Wild were without a handful of notable players due to injury, including Kirill Kaprizov, Marcus Foligno and goalie Filip Gustavsson.

As the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.

These two clubs have met twice in less than a month, Minny winning both: 5-2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Dec. 5, then a tight 3-2 shootout victory at home on Dec. 14.

So, when when the puck dropped, there was a notable edge to the contest.

A.J. Greer had a monster shift early in the tilt, levelling a Minny player behind the net, then eventually getting the puck and trying to walk out front but he lost the handle. Not done, he parked himself in front of the cage in the slot battling with Sammy Walker and got a no-look backhand shot off.

Then it was the Wild’s turn for a shift with some prolonged pressure in the Flames zone, Matt Boldy finishing it off by cutting across the blue paint in tight but Markstrom flashed the leather to deny his backhand.

Markstrom came up with another 10-beller with just under 10 minutes to play, Boldy showing great patience to hold the puck till the last second on a 2-on-1 before wrapping a pass around a prone and sliding MacKenzie Weegar right onto the tape of Marcus Johansson but his backdoor attempt was foiled by the left pad of the Calgary ‘tender.

Mangiapane showed the grit and never-give-up effort that’s become his hallmark, hitting the post and going flying into the corner after, before getting right back up and getting out front where - with Jared Spurgeon draped on his back - he tipped home a shot from Rasmus Andersson at 11:40.

With just over a minute to play, Fleury made a old-school, vintage kick-save on a Dillon Dube blast from the high slot through traffic.

The Flames didn’t let up, though, with time winding down, Yegor Sharangovich dug a puck off the boards amid a battle and fired a cross-ice laser to Elias Lindholm who then feathered the puck to Huberdeau as he cut down a seam, going forehand-backhand to slide home his 10th of the season with 24 ticks in the first.

Calgary outshot Minny 9-5 in the second but it was the Wild that scored, as they got on the board at 9:28 off a 3-on-2 rush.

Pat Maroon led it down ice, passing across to Nic Petan but Markstrom got his paddle on it with a ridiculous save as he spun backwards, however the puck sailing across the blue paint behind him where Maroon smacked it into the open cage.

The Lineup:

The trios and d-pairs to start the tilt:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Yegor Sharangovich

Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

A.J. Greer - Adam Ruzicka - Dillon Dube

Defence

Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev

Dennis Gilbert - Rasmus Andersson

Jordan Oesterle - MacKenzie Weegar

Goalies

Jacob Markstrom - starter

Dan Vladar

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 33, MIN 29

Powerplay: CGY 0-1, MIN 0-3

Faceoffs: CGY 58.5%, MIN 41.5%

Blocked Shots: CGY , MIN

Hits: CGY 19, MIN 19

Takeaways: CGY 3, MIN 4

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 30, MIN 26

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 7, MIN 13

Up Next:

The Flames head to Nashville for the second outing of this four-game Stateside jaunt where they face the Predators on Thursday night at 6 p.m. MT.