By: Kate Butler

  Going into tonight’s game with a two game winning streak, the Minnesota Wild had not yet won three games in a row this season. That trend followed suit tonight, as the Wild lost to the Flames in Calgary 3-1. This game marked the second of three match ups in just over two weeks for these two teams, the first of which Minnesota won.

  Less than two minutes into an aggressive first period, Calgary’s Alex Tanguay put the Flames ahead of the Wild 1-0 with a wrist shot past Backstrom. Midway through the period, Charlie Coyle tied up the game with his first ever NHL goal. In keeping with the trend of "firsts," this was also Minnesota’s first goal in the first period in the last nine games.

  The second period was nothing like the first for either team, as there was a visible lack of intensity. Wild head coach Mike Yeo noticed his team letting up this period, "We almost had the sense that things were going to come easy for us." After an entirely scoreless second period, the game remained tied at 1-1.

  While the Wild outshot the Flames 31-27, they just couldn’t seem to get the puck where it needed to go. The final period was big for Calgary’s Matt Stajan, who scored both goals, and Niklas Backstrom, who saw his first loss in regulation play in his last five starts. With a wrist shot from Bouwmeester, Stajan landed the winning goal almost halfway through the period. His second goal came with nine seconds left to play when he hit the Wild’s empty net.

  In a post-game interview, Yeo said, "This was a team effort tonight in the wrong direction," in regards to his team’s loss. The Wild will have a chance at redemption next week when they take the ice against Calgary at home on Tuesday. Tune in to KFAN 100.3FM starting at 6:30p for the pre-game show, followed by live coverage of the game.