Boldy scores twice, Wild ease past Flames for 4th straight win

CALGARY -- Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist to help the Minnesota Wild to their fourth straight win, 5-2 against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Mats Zuccarello extended his point streak to 10 games, and Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist for the Wild (9-10-4), who have not lost since John Hynes took over as coach (4-0-0) for Dean Evason on Nov. 27. Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.

"Give a lot of credit to John -- he's come in and just established what he wants us to do and play like, and it's a lot faster and our breaking out is a lot better than it has been," Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said. "It's on us too. Guys are snapping the puck around and it's tape-to-tape, it's a lot easier when you play like that. And then, just, it's a kick in the butt when you get a coach fired.

"We knew that it wasn't right and we weren't playing our style. We got off the tracks a little bit, we got it back on and there's still a mountain to climb, but there's a lot of guys that don't quit in this room."

Mikael Backlund and Connor Zary scored, and Dustin Wolf made 11 saves in relief for the Flames (10-12-3), who have lost consecutive games. Dan Vladar was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 16 shots.

"We know we can be better," Backlund said. "This is the worst start in a long time. Hopefully, the worst that we'll see in a while. We all know it. It's been discussed. Now we're looking forward to next game (against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday). We know we've got to come out a lot harder and have a really good first period."

Foligno scored on Minnesota's first shot, a wrister over Vladar's glove after stickhandling around Calgary rookie defenseman Ilya Solovyov, to take a 1-0 lead 1:26 into the first period.

It was the seventh straight game and 13th time in the past 15 that the Flames have surrendered the first goal.

"It's just on everybody in this room," Calgary forward Blake Coleman said. "Whatever it is, the preparation, it's not there from the drop and even in games where we are energy-wise, we're good, we're making mistakes that are back in the net. It's hard to chase games."

Kaprizov extended the lead to 2-0 when he tapped in a rebound of Marco Rossi's shot off the post 45 seconds into the second period. Zuccarello assisted on the goal to extend his assist streak to eight games (nine assists) and his point streak to 10 (14 points; three goals, 11 assists).

Boldy made it 3-0 at 1:30 with a wrist shot from the slot over Vladar's glove. Vladar was replaced by Wolf after the goal.

"It's never a good sign when you're swapping your goalies out, and it's completely on us," Coleman said. "'Vladdy' was left out to dry early in the game and we shouldn't have seen 'Wolfie' in this game. With that said, he came in and gave us a little bit of life and a little jump and we just weren't able to sustain it."

Backlund cut the lead to 3-1 at 6:51, but Boldy made it 4-1, redirecting a Kaprizov slap-pass over Wolf's blocker on the power play at 13:58. It was Boldy's fourth goal in four games after a 10-game drought.

"We score goals at the right time, kill penalties at the right time, power play had one," Boldy said. "It's doing the right things and when teams are playing well, it kind of just works out like that. Goals like that are huge. It's a game-changer."

Zary pulled the Flames to 4-2 at 1:37 of the third period when he tipped in Solovyov's backhand. The assist was Solovyov's first NHL point in his third game.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored at 6:49 for the 5-2 final.

"Guys are playing well, playing fast with the puck, confident," Boldy said. "I think it was a matter of kind of getting that first one, getting that relief. You relax so much after you're able to get that first win. Obviously, we're rolling with it and using the momentum that we have from it."

NOTES: Zuccarello became the first player in Wild history to have three or more double-digit point streaks. His eight-game assist streak tied Jim Dowd (2001-02) for the second longest in franchise history, behind Kaprizov (nine games in 2022-23). … Hynes became the second to start his coaching tenure with the Wild with a win streak of four or more games, joining John Torchetti (4-0-0 from Feb. 15-21, 2016). … Backlund got his 505th career point, tying Gary Roberts for 10th in Flames history. … Boldy (22 years, eight months) has nine multigoal games in his career; only Marian Gaborik (14) has more for the Wild before turning 23 years old. … Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom is week to week after sustaining a fractured finger during practice Monday.