Andersson's 3-point night leads Flames past Wild for third straight win
Calgary defenceman scores winner, collects 2 assists in 5-3 comeback victory
Down 2-0 before the game was three minutes old, the Calgary Flames rallied after the poor start and matched a season high with their third straight victory.
Rasmus Andersson notched the game-winner at 15:57 of the third period and added two assists in the 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild in Calgary.
"Obviously not the start we wanted," said the Flames defenceman. "First 10 minutes weren't good enough, but we got a little bit of momentum toward the end of the first that we carried with us to start the second."
After Blake Coleman tied it from a goalmouth scramble at 1:37, the Flames moved in front at 3:11 when Tyler Toffoli got a piece of Andersson's heavy slapshot from the blue line.
"Getting frustrated is natural, but you've just got to go out there and do something about it," Kadri said about the bad start. "I'm proud of the way we bounced back, especially the start of that second period. That was exactly what we want to see."
WATCH | Andersson scores late winner to lift Flames over Wild:
After a seven-game stretch where the Flames' power play was just 2-for-21, they've scored two goals in each of the past two games, going a combined 4-for-9 over that span.
"Finally, it's nice to see a couple hit the back of the net, because that's going to be crucial," Kadri said. "You're already seeing that the last couple games in getting us wins."
Making his sixth start in the last eight games, Dan Vladar settled in after allowing two goals on the first three shots. He finished with 25 saves to improve to 5-4-1 on the season.
Minnesota tied it at 15:45 of the third when Jon Merrill's point shot deflected in off the stick of Flames defenceman Chris Tanev.
But just 12 seconds later, a Wild turnover behind their net ended up on Coleman's stick and he set up Andersson, who cut across the crease and used his backhand to put the puck just inside the goalpost.
Lindholm chipped in with three assists for Calgary (13-10-3).
Kaprizov sets franchise records
Kirill Kaprizov extended his goal streak to seven games for the Wild — tops in the league this season. Mason Shaw also scored for Minnesota (13-10-2), which had its four-game winning streak come to an end.
Kaprizov entered the game on an offensive tear with 19 points in his last dozen games. He extended his point streak to 13 games when he tipped in a Matt Dumba point shot just 1:27 into the game.
Both of Kaprizov's streaks are franchise records.
"It's a credit to my teammates that I play with. If it wasn't for them, none of this would be possible, so thank you to them," Kaprizov said. "Ultimately at the end of the day we want to win as a team. This is a team game and the win is more important than a personal record."
Kaprizov just took the sole ownership of the longest point and goal streak in franchise history 😤 😤 😤 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mnwild?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mnwild</a> <a href="https://t.co/2fQXim484p">pic.twitter.com/2fQXim484p</a>
—@mnwildLess than a minute after Kaprizov's goal, the Wild broke out on a 3-on-1 with Shaw one-timing Connor Dewar's cross-ice pass past Vladar.
But momentum started to turn when the Wild took four consecutive penalties.
"Even if they don't score two power-play goals, we gave them momentum and we have to be accountable to stay out of the box,' Evason added.
Marc-Andre Fleury had 22 saves for the Wild. His record fell to 9-6-1.
"I think we've got to find a way when we're ahead to stay calm but still play with the pace [and] still be aggressive out there," said Fleury. "Got to make a few saves, too, and help the guys out."
