CALGARY, ALBERTA – With the Wild facing a fresh team playing for the first since time since before the All-Star break, the effort was there but the execution not as much as the team’s franchise-record 14-game road point streak ended with a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome.
The Wild gave up two power-play goals for the first time since Nov. 29, the date of its last regulation road loss in Vancouver. Sean Monahan scored both of them, the second coming in a three-goal third period as the Flames staved off the Wild’s attempted comeback.
It was the Wild’s most-lopsided loss of the season.
The Wild, which saw a six-game point streak in Calgary end and lost by more than a goal for only the fourth time this season, made it a game in the second period when Jason Zucker, feisty all night, scored his 10th goal in 19 games off a beautiful Mikael Granlund feed. That assist extended Granlund’s point streak to 11 games, establishing a Wild record and tying Chicago’s Artem Anisimov for longest point streak in the NHL this season.
Despite playing the night before in Edmonton, falling down two goals in the first and often having trouble handling the puck and connecting on passes, the Wild worked hard from the opening puck drop and had plenty of chances to tie the score by the time the third period began.
Zucker’s goal, which was his 16th to tie Eric Staal for the team lead, actually came not long after Zach Parise had a goal waved off for incidental contact on goalie Brian Elliott.
The former Blues goalie was terrific on this night. In the third, after Parise took a slashing penalty, Monahan beat Devan Dubnyk through Troy Brouwer’s screen. Not long after, Deryk Engelland scored through a screen. Both goals came after Erik Haula faceoff losses.
It was only Dubnyk’s third loss in his past 21 starts.
Struggling Charlie Coyle drew coach Bruce Boudreau’s ire in the first period. After failing to hit Staal with a soft pass on one entry, Boudreau met Coyle at the bench door and had words. In the second period, it took one shift by Coyle before he was replaced on the top line by fourth-line right winger Jordan Schroeder.
Coyle, two games from tying Antti Laaksonen’s team Ironman record of 283 consecutive games played, was downgraded to the fourth line and he continued to look off. In Coyle’s past 17 games, he has scored one goal and 10 assists and has only 23 shots on goal.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Wild soon summons Alex Tuch from Iowa of the AHL for his NHL debut as a bit of a wake-up call for Coyle. Tuch has three goals in two games with Iowa since returning from a shoulder injury and scored twice in Monday’s AHL All-Star Game.
In the first period, after Christian Folin’s clear was intercepted at the blue line, Calgary struck first on a terrific Sam Bennett setup to Coyle’s former Boston University linemate, Alex Chiasson, in front of the net.
This typically hasn’t been a problem for the Wild, which was 7-1 in the previous eight games its opponent scored first and was a league-best 11-5-1.
But it sure didn’t help matters when that lead became 2-0 less than four minutes later. After Zucker was called for an interference on a play that the livid Wild contended TJ Brodie flopped, Monahan scored a power-play goal when Dubnyk served up a perfect rebound of a Johnny Gaudreau shot.
The Wild’s work ethic was there the rest of the period as the Wild attempted to at least score one. But the Wild’s execution wasn’t on par with the hard work. Passes were missed, breakouts were off, strong cycles ended with no finish.
Elliott made 13 saves in the period to enable Calgary to carry a two-goal lead into the second.
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