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Flames, Wild meet in Northwest Division battle

Feb 28, 2007 - 3:11 PM Minnesota (35-23-5) at Calgary (33-21-9) 10:00 pm EST

CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Three teams are battling for the Northwest Division title. Two of them meet on Wednesday when the Calgary Flames host the Minnesota Wild.

Each club has 75 points and is tied for second in the division, two points behind the Vancouver Canucks.

Calgary has two wins and two shootout losses against the Wild this season.

The Flames, who are 26-6-1 at home, are coming off a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday. Wayne Primeau scored his first two goals as a Flame after going scoreless in his first seven games with Calgary. He was acquired from Boston on February 11.

Kristian Huselius also scored for the Flames. The left wing has four goals and six assists in his last 10 games, but just two assists in four contests against the Wild.

Calgary acquired defenseman David Hale from the New Jersey Jersey Devils on Tuesday. He has one point in 43 games this season.

The Wild have won four of their last five games, including a 4-1 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Pierre-Marc Bouchard had a goal and an assist, while goaltender Niklas Backstrom stopped 19-of-20 shots.

Backstrom has improved after surrendering five goals on 26 shots in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on February 18. Since then he has won three straight while allowing just five goals.

Minnesota acquired center Dominic Moore from the Pittsburgh Penguins before Tuesday's trade deadline. Moore had six goals and nine assists in 59 games with Pittsburgh.