Flames 2 - 3 Wild
Final
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Wild eye 5th consecutive win in clash with Flames

Mar 3, 2014 - 2:59 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Minnesota Wild hope to post their longest winning streak of the season on Monday night as they play host to the Calgary Flames.

The Wild have won four in a row for the third time this season, including the first two games following the Olympic break. Minnesota won road games on back- to-back nights, besting Edmonton 3-0 on Thursday before topping Vancouver 2-1 in a shootout.

Justin Fontaine scored the lone goal of the seven-round shootout and Darcy Kuemper stood tall on David Booth's spin move to seal the win. Kuemper ended with 30 saves.

Zach Parise scored in regulation for the Wild, who play five of their next six at home.

Minnesota nearly had enough goals to win the contest in regulation, but a tally at 11:27 of the opening period was waived off due to interference by Erik Haula.

"I never touched the goalie," Haula said of the play. "All that matters is we got two points."

The Wild, who own a seven-point lead for one of the Western Conference's two wild card spots, could have captain Mikko Koivu back on the ice for the first time since Jan. 4. The forward has missed 17 games in a row with an ankle injury.

The Flames are coming off a 2-1 overtime win over the Oilers on Saturday, with rookie Sean Monahan scoring both goals. He netted the winner 1:50 into overtime.

With the extra session just under two minutes old, Calgary center Paul Byron won a battle along the boards behind the Edmonton net and quickly backhanded the disc to the low right circle for a cutting Monahan, who slid a shot through the five-hole of Ilya Bryzgalov to send the Flames to victory.

"In overtime (Byron) was just buzzing all over the puck and made a great pass to me, which fortunately enough, I was able to bury," said Monahan, the sixth overall pick of the 2013 draft who netted his club-high 18th goal.

Reto Berra registered 21 saves for Calgary, which had lost three of four coming in. That included a 2-0 decision to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday in its first game following the Olympic break.

Calgary lost forward Kevin Westgarth in the first period of Saturday's game following a fight with Edmonton's Luke Gazdic.

The Flames and Wild have split the first two of three meetings this season and Minnesota has won three of the previous four encounters at home.






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