The Minnesota Wild end a nearly week-long journey through Canada with a chance to finish .500 on the road trip.
Minnesota heads into Calgary after back-to-back losses at Ottawa and Toronto by the respective scores of 4-3 and 3-1.
“We just needed one play there, one bounce.”
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) February 25, 2022
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The Wild have dropped four of their last five games overall and fallen into third place in the Central Division, behind Colorado and St. Louis.
“We didn’t have a lot of energy,” Wild coach Dean Evason said in a media availability session after the Toronto game. “It was that type of game anyway but it just didn’t seem like our normal energy and we’re obviously trying to figure out why.
It didn’t look like we had that same jump that we normally do,” Evason said. “We didn’t get a lot of sustained stuff down (in the offensive zone). We didn’t find pucks, get to pucks really quickly. Obviously we’ll try and figure it out.”
Coach Evason on Saturday's matchup in Calgary.
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 25, 2022
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And while the Wild might be showing signs of being road-weary, Calgary is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
The Flames have been red-hot. A 10-game winning streak snapped on Thursday against Vancouver, and that run has vaulted Calgary into first place in the Pacific Division.
Saturday’s matchup is the first of a home-and-home series between the teams. Minnesota hosts Calgary in St. Paul on Monday before the Wild head back on the road for games against Philadelphia and Buffalo.
Minnesota is 13-7-2 in its last 22 games at the Saddledome and dropped a 2-1 game in its last visit to Calgary on Jan. 9, 2020.
Among active Wild players, defenseman Jared Spurgeon has had the most success against the Flames with 13 goals in 34 career games.
Betting odds
The Wild vs. Flames odds on .WynnBET has Calgary favored by 1.5 goals at home. Calgary is favored on the moneyline as well at -145. The Wild are the underdog at +125. The over/under is set at six total goals.
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Upcoming Wild schedule
Tuesday, March 1: Calgary, 7 p.m. CST
Thursday, March 3: @Philadelphia, 6 p.m. CST
Feb, March 4: @Buffalo, 6 p.m., CST