Flames fend off Wild 3-1, hand Minnesota third straight loss

If some of the Wild jersey numbers looked unfamiliar on Tuesday night, that's because they were.

But the digits should become more recognizable soon.

The Wild haven't been at full strength for a month now, and they keep getting hurt faster than they're healing.

That led to their most patchwork lineup to date against the Flames, who won 3-1 at Xcel Energy Center to hand the Wild a third straight loss.

This is their longest skid of coach John Hynes' tenure, which stands at 11-6.

"No excuses," Pat Maroon said. "It's always about the next man up."

Calgary held off the Wild with a two-goal first period, including a last-minute tally from Jonathan Huberdeau, an empty-netter by Blake Coleman with 57 seconds left and 28 saves from goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Maroon scored for the Wild, his first goal in 15 games, and Marc-Andre Fleury (30 saves) remained at 550 career victories — one shy of tying Patrick Roy for second place in NHL history.

But Fleury will keep getting a chance to match and then surpass Roy because Filip Gustavsson will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Also sidelined week-to-week is Kirill Kaprizov (upper-body injury). He and Gustavsson were hurt last Saturday at Winnipeg, but they aren't even the most recent additions to the Wild's injury list.

Marcus Foligno was a game-time decision but didn't suit up on Tuesday due to a lower-body injury.

The Wild also placed Vinni Lettieri on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, creating a roster spot to recall Sammy Walker from the American Hockey League and get to 12 forwards vs. Calgary. Iowa mainstays Nic Petan and Jake Lucchini also played, with Zane McIntyre backing up Fleury for a second straight game.

Factor in the ongoing recoveries of Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello from their respective upper-body injuries, and the Wild were at their most depleted of the season, missing five regulars and a frequent call-up in Lettieri.

"It's an opportunity for these guys to create some energy here and fill a spot that maybe they usually don't play in," Maroon said. "Can't look at the lineup. There's no excuses. Just gotta play the right way."

While the Wild admirably weathered the beginning of these exits, going 7-1 since their first game without Brodin before the skid, these departures are looking tougher for them to overcome.

Case in point: their start against the Flames.

Calgary was sharper and was rewarded for it, with Andrew Mangiapane deflecting in a Rasmus Andersson shot 11:40 into the first period.

But what really stung the Wild was their deficit doubling before the first adjourned: with 24 seconds left in the period, Huberdeau caught an Elias Lindholm pass in stride while crashing the net and tucked the puck behind Fleury.

"We did not do anything that we really wanted to," Jake Middleton said. "That was probably the least competitive we've been in a while here, and it's a shame because we did play really well in the last few periods and generated a lot of chances. But to do that to ourselves in the first, it shot us in the foot."

The Wild finally answered back at 9:28 of the second when Maroon buried a Petan rebound off a shot initially set up by Maroon. Later in the period, Alex Goligoski came close to delivering the equalizer when his shot rang off the post.

But overall, the Wild lacked the execution needed to polish off a comeback and snap out of their funk.

Their penalty kill went 1-for-1 but the power play was 0-for-3, with two of those chances during the third. The Wild outshot the Flames 17-10 that period but never capitalized, their empty-handed finish highlighting the absence of their top two scorers, in Kaprizov and Zuccarello, and Foligno, who has three goals in his last four games.

"We're capable," Hynes said. "We believe in the group. We have capable guys, and we have a strong foundation.

"We know how we want to play. We just gotta continue to get to it."