Overview
- Calgary beat Minnesota 2-1 on Thursday after Aydar Suniev and Joel Farabee scored on first-period power plays and Devin Cooley made 36 saves to preserve the one-goal lead.
- Both Flames goals came on the power play, marking Calgary’s first multi-goal power-play night this season and providing the decisive edge in a tight game.
- Minnesota outshot Calgary 37-22 but could not convert most chances as Cooley made key stops late, including a sprawling save in the closing minutes.
- The Flames played without captain Mikael Backlund (listed day-to-day), gave Ben Jones his Flames debut, and celebrated Blake Coleman’s return to the Saddledome; Minnesota added Jared Spurgeon but scratched Maxim Shabanov with an upper-body issue.
- The loss drops the Wild to 6-3-2 as they head to Seattle on Saturday and gives Calgary back-to-back home wins and a momentum boost before hosting Detroit on Saturday.