Filip Gustavsson posts shutout as Wild beat Flames in Calgary

CALGARY, ALBERTA – The Wild played another game that didn't eclipse three goals, but this time they did all the scoring.

They blanked the Flames 3-0 on Saturday in front of 18,605 at Scotiabank Saddledome to sweep their two-game road trip with a fourth straight victory that pushed their season-long point streak to nine games.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson was airtight, blocking all 31 shots that entered his crease for his second shutout of the season, while Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno and Matt Boldy capitalized to snap their respective droughts.

This was the Wild's largest margin of victory since their 5-1 rout of Tampa Bay on Jan. 4.

"Goals have been hard to come by," Boldy said. "But we're getting wins, which is nice."

After posting back-to-back 2-1 decisions and six one-goal wins during their 8-0-1 run, the Wild looked like they were settling in for another narrow outcome at the start of a home-and-home against Calgary.

Eriksson Ek's first-period finish was the only tally for most of the action. He converted at 14 minutes, 52 seconds on a double deflection, with Marcus Johansson also getting a piece of Boldy's shot before Eriksson Ek tipped the puck into the net for his 22nd goal that counted as his first in nine games. Johansson's assist was his first with the Wild in two games since a trade from Washington last Tuesday.

But the Wild never looked flustered with only a one-goal lead, even against a desperate Flames team battling to rejoin the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

Instead, they looked primed to bubble wrap the advantage until time ran out.

"When we're up one goal, we don't stop playing," Johansson said. "We play the right way, but we don't take any unnecessary risks and I feel like the game makes it hard to play against because we don't stop doing what we're doing."

With 6:11 to go in the third period, Foligno batted in a puck to end an 18-game dry spell before Boldy roofed in a rebound of an Eriksson Ek attempt at 16:30 to wrap a 15-game rut. Eriksson Ek's assist lifted him to 49 points, which matched his career high set last season. Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom finished with 29 saves.

"We know we can be successful in these tight games," Eriksson Ek said.

Both power plays went 0-for-2, and Gustavsson's best stop actually came when he denied the Flames' Tyler Toffoli on a shorthanded breakaway in the third period before the Wild tacked on two more goals.

"He looked up a little bit and angled his stick like he was going to shoot," Gustavsson said. "So, I just went down there and he shot it right at my arm there on the glove side."

Gustavsson improved to 6-0-2 during his last eight starts, a stretch in which he's stopped 237 of 248 shots for a 1.32 goals-against average and .956 save percentage.

Since Nov. 19, he's 16-4-2 and owns the best goals-against average (1.68) and save percentage (.942) in that span.

"I actually didn't feel that great today," Gustavsson said. "It felt like it was bouncy; every time I went out to stop the puck and play the puck with my stick it didn't go the way I wanted. So, it was a little bit of a funky game.

"Yeah, funky game, but the pucks hit me anyway so you kind of get into a rhythm anyways."

As for the Wild's rhythm, they've given up the fewest goals in the NHL since Feb. 11 at 17.

This was the 23rd game they've limited the opposition to two goals or less, which is the second most in the NHL; they're 21-1-1 when that happens.

And since their 9-1-2 turnaround began on Feb. 11, no one has banked more points than them in the league. Their 20 points in that span are tied for tops with Boston. The Wild are second in the Central Division, only three points back of No. 1 Dallas.

"These games are really big," Eriksson Ek said. "It's a tight race and we know that, and hopefully we can keep building on this."