Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Johansson, who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game, extended his point streak to a career-high nine games by getting an assist for the Wild (7-7-3), who have won two straight and four of their past five.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game by both teams,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “I didn’t think there was a lot of easy ice. I thought there were pushes where they had some momentum, did some things. I thought that we dug in defensively at times. I thought we had some pushes, and they did the same. So, I thought it was hard-fought battle by both teams.”
Devin Cooley made 17 saves for the Flames (4-11-2), who have been shut out in consecutive games following a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
“I liked a lot of our game tonight,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “Again, we’re not finding a way to score, which you have to do. In close games like this, you’ve got to find a way to get one by, that goes without saying. But I did like a lot of our game tonight.”
Cooley kept it scoreless with a glove save on Jonas Brodin's slap shot at 12:36 of the first period, and Wallstedt answered by denying Jonathan Huberdeau on a breakaway at 5:02 of the second period.
“They scored goals. We didn’t,” Flames forward Mikael Backlund said. “We got some looks, didn’t bury it. Hard to win when you don’t score goals.”
Boldy gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 13:47 of the second by finishing a give-and-go with Johansson up the slot. Johansson has 11 points (five goals, six assists) during his streak.
