Game Recap: Wild 3, Flames 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Matt Boldy scored in his third straight game, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Calgary Flames in a shootout, 3-2 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

Mats Zuccarello and Boldy each scored in the shootout.

“Played well again,” Boldy said. “Guys are going, playing well. It’s just good to win. You’ve got a group of guys that work hard every night. [A lot of] desperation to win to get that kind of streak going and stuff like that, so a lot of credit to other guys.”

Marco Rossi scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 35 saves for the Wild (11-12-4), who have won two in a row and six of their past eight games since John Hynes took over as head coach on Nov. 27.

“Thought it was a really strong team game for us,” Hynes said. “…When you can play a really compact, strong team game, it gives you the best chance to win. Our ‘D’-core played really well, we played well as a five-man unit. I think when you can play with structure, everybody contributes, it gives you a chance to win.

Yegor Sharangovich scored in his fourth straight game and had an assist, and Blake Coleman scored for the Flames (11-14-5), who have lost four straight and six of seven (1-4-2). Dan Vladar made 30 saves.

“This was a good game, probably for both sides I would say,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “I thought we had a slow first 10 minutes, but then I liked our game from that point forward. I felt like we deserved the extra point tonight.”

Boldy gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 4:42 of the first period after winning a battle along the boards and popping the loose puck back to himself before scoring on a wrist shot.

Gustavsson kept Calgary scoreless at 9:50 of the second period, using his full body to cover a loose puck that, after a lengthy video review, was determined to not have crossed the goal line.

“It hit my arm, and then I just tried to keep my arm tight there in coverage,” Gustavsson said. “But you can’t see, you never know. That’s what you have to do sometimes.”

Sharangovich tied it 1-1 on the power play at 13:18 with a backdoor redirect off a pass from Elias Lindholm.

Coleman put the Flames ahead 2-1 at 4:13 of the third period, scoring short-handed when his pass deflected off Wild defenseman Brock Faber’s skate and in.

Rossi tied it 2-2 with a goal 45 seconds later at 4:58 with a one-timer on a rebound from the left circle.

“When they score a quick one, we got to find ways to not have those quick responses on us after going up in games,” Coleman said. “It’s another lead we felt like we should have come out of here with two points.”

NOTES: The only players to record a longer goal streak in their first season with Calgary than Sharangovich are Kent Nilsson (five games in 1980-81) and Joe Mullen (five games in 1985-86). …Faber had a career-high 30:08 of ice time. …Rossi joined Connor Bedard (12 goals) as the only rookies with a double-digit goal total in 2023-24. … Boldy scored his sixth goal since Dec. 1, tied with Jake Guentzel for the second-most among all players during that span. Only Auston Matthews (seven) has more.