5 Things – Flames @ Wild

2. Know Your Enemy

The Wild hold the second-best record in the Central Division at 28-16-4. However, they enter Saturday evening’s contest on their heels, losing four of their last five games. They were shut out by the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday despite getting Kirill Kaprizov back after the forward missed 12 games with a lower-body injury.

Not surprisingly, Kaprizov has been an offensive force for the Wild and even with him missing 12 games, he remains the club’s leading scorer with 23 goals and 50 points in 35 outings.

“Good to see him in a game. It’s game action,” Wild head coach John Hynes told NHL.com. “I thought there were times when he had opportunities to make plays, and he made some plays. Other times it wasn’t. But I think when you’re off that long, sometimes it’s timing and things like that. But I think it was good for him to get in and play and we’ll build from there.”

The Wild also had captain Jared Spurgeon back after the defenceman missed nine games with a lower-body injury.

In Thursday’s loss, the Wild fell behind 2-0 in the first period and were unable to generate any sort of momentum from that point.

“There’s two teams out there,” Mats Zuccarello told NHL.com. “One team is playing up to their standards and I feel like we didn’t, especially the first. You’re chasing the rest of the game and just all in all frustrating. We got outplayed in the first period and then you’re chasing the rest of the game, and we couldn’t really find an answer. We couldn’t score on our chances, and they scored on their chances and we gave them too easy offense. Not good enough.”

The Flames have historically had plenty of success in Saint Paul, holding a 26-18-1-8 record against the Wild in Minnesota. In their last 10 games against the Wild, they are 6-2-2 and picked up a victory in their first of three meetings this season, winning 4-3 in a shootout on Nov. 23. Kevin Rooney, Martin Pospisil, and Yegor Sharangovich scored in regulation while Rasmus Andersson potted the shootout winner.