Calgary @ Minnesota preview

Calgary at Minnesota

Last Meeting ( Dec 14, 2023 ) Calgary 2, Minnesota 3

The Minnesota Wild will try to rebound from back-to-back losses when they host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Minnesota fell to the Winnipeg Jets twice in a home-and-home series. The Wild lost 4-2 at Winnipeg on Saturday and 3-2 on their home ice on Sunday.

The most recent loss left veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in search of another career milestone. He became the fourth netminder to play at least 1,000 games, but he remained one victory short of matching Patrick Roy for second in NHL history with 551.

Fleury is 6-6-2 with a 3.16 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage this season. His career record is 550-321-2-91 with a 2.59 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

Teammates want him to match Roy in front of the home crowd.

"It's right there," Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. "It would have been nice to tie (Roy) in his 1,000th game, to get it done, but we know Tuesday there's a chance to do it right away."

The 39-year-old has faced the Flames 22 times and is 14-6-1 with a 2.13 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Five of those victories have been shutouts.

Calgary hopes to spoil the evening for Fleury and the Wild.

The Flames are coming off a 4-3 home win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Dennis Gilbert and Blake Coleman each had a goal and an assist and Andrew Mangiapane tallied three assists.

For Gilbert, it marked his first goal in 26 games this season. He has three goals in 74 career games.

"That's not really my calling card or what I'm known for by any means," Gilbert said. "Anything I can do offensively to help chip in here and there is just gravy on top of my game. A lot of emotion, obviously. It was super exciting."

Calgary has won four of its past six games as it attempts to climb the standings in the Pacific Division.

The Flames could turn back to Jacob Markstrom in net after he earned the win against Philadelphia. The 33-year-old Swede is 9-10-2 this season with a 2.73 GAA and a .904 save percentage.

In 12 career games against Minnesota, Markstrom is 6-3-2 with a 2.35 GAA, a .922 save percentage and one shutout.

Calgary's backup option is Dan Vladar, who is 5-4-2 with a 3.40 GAA and a .886 save percentage. Vladar has faced Minnesota three times in his career, posting a 1-1-1 record with a 3.28 GAA and a .895 save percentage.

The Wild expect to remain without top point producer Kirill Kaprizov, who was injured Saturday when he was cross-checked from behind by Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon. Marcus Johansson replaced Kaprizov on the Wild's top line Sunday alongside Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy.

This is the teams' third and final meeting of the regular season. Minnesota is going for a series sweep after beating Calgary 5-2 on the road Dec. 5 and winning 3-2 at home in a shootout Dec. 14.

--Field Level Media