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Wild aim to continue stellar defensive start

Oct 24, 2007 - 2:25 PM Minnesota (7-0-1) at Calgary (4-3-2) 9:00 pm EDT

CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Thanks to a great start defensively, the Minnesota Wild's offensive struggles have gone virtually unnoticed.

On Wednesday, the Wild will travel to the Pengrowth Saddledome to meet the Calgary Flames.

Minnesota (7-0-1) is off to the best start in franchise history despite not having scored more than three goals in any game this season. The inability to find the back of the net has been offset by some spectacular goaltending by Niklas Backstrom, who is second in the league with a 1.48 goals-against average.

However, the Wild's quest to improve their offense could be hampered in the short term by the possible absence of right wing Pavol Demitra, who is day-to-day with a strained adductor muscle.

On the other hand, Calgary has been very proficient on the offensive end, as it is just one of six teams that have scored 30 goals.

Center Daymond Langkow has registered three two-goal games through nine contests and has eight for the season, trailing only Los Angeles Kings center Michael Cammalleri, who leads the NHL with 10 goals.

The Flames are coming off a 4-1 loss to San Jose on Monday, snapping Calgary's two-game winning streak here.