Wild's dreary Canadian road trip ends with 7-3 loss at Calgary

CALGARY, Alberta — The Wild and Flames are neighbors in the Western Conference standings, but the first matchup of the season between the two teams didn't back up their similar addresses.

Calgary schooled the Wild 7-3 on Saturday in front of 9,639 at Scotiabank Saddledome, sending the Wild home from a week-long Canadian road trip on a three-game losing streak.

Overall, the Wild has dropped five of its last six.

"We were embarrassed tonight," coach Dean Evason said. "Everybody, all of us, were embarrassed tonight. There wasn't one area of our game that was good."

Matthew Tkachuk and Tyler Toffoli kickstarted the Flames' comeback from an early hole, each picking up three points while Calgary scored five unanswered goals before tacking on a pair of empty-netters.

Aside from capitalizing at 5-on-5, the Flames converted twice on the power play and once shorthanded.

"They just outplayed us, outclassed us in every area of the hockey game," Evason said.

After back-to-back losses at Ottawa and Toronto, the Wild had a day off on Friday and didn't skate Saturday morning; Evason called it an "exhale" and chance for the players to conserve energy before the game.

But that still didn't help the Wild, which floundered after Frederick Gaudreau tipped in a Jon Merrill shot 1 minute, 36 seconds into the first period for Gaudreau's second goal in as many games and first career goal streak.

"We didn't really follow up with any type of energy," Nick Bjugstad said. "We didn't have enough pop."

Toffoli was left all alone to capitalize on a rising shot at 10:29 and then 1:20 later, Tkachuk buried his own rebound on the power play.

Meanwhile, the Wild went 11:01 in between shots. But the Flames didn't just have the edge in puck possession; Calgary was also the more physical team, outhitting the Wild 29-15.

BOXSCORE: Calgary 7, Wild 3

"We had no bite to our game right from the start and as much as we attempted to challenge, it never materialized at all," Evason said.

Before the first ended, the Flames added another goal when Erik Gudbranson wound up from the point at 17:42. And if the score didn't emphasize the mismatch, the shot counter sure did with Calgary outshooting the Wild 18-4.

"It's all effort," Bjugstad said.

In the second, the Wild upped its offensive pressure but couldn't change the score. And that lack of execution stung, with the Flames tacking on two goals late in the period.

Andrew Mangiapane pounced on a rebound with 3:16 remaining, and then Blake Coleman had a shorthanded breakaway at 19:19 — the second shorthanded goal given up by the Wild this season.

"That's how it's been going for us," Marcus Foligno said. "That's kind of our karma right now."

Not until the third did the Wild finally start to chip away at its deficit, with goals by Bjugstad (13:25) and Kirill Kaprizov (14:35).

But with goalie Kaapo Kahkonen on the bench, Calgary dashed any hope for a Wild rally: Tkachuk (18:06) and Toffoli (19:18) recorded their second goals of the game into empty nets. Tkachuk's finish came on the power play; the Wild blanked on its two chances.

Kahkonen, who was making consecutive starts for the first time since Jan.21-22, ended up with 28 saves, and Jacob Markstrom had 22 for the Flames.

And guess who will greet the Wild when it finally plays next at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday?

That's right, Calgary, which has now won 11 of its past 12 games after rebounding from having its 10-game win streak snapped on Thursday.

"If we have that type of effort, we'll get embarrassed again," Evason said. "Nobody wants to be embarrassed. Those are professional hockey players in there. We'll respond."