Devin Cooley turned aside 36 shots to lift the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday. A pair of first-period power-play goals supplied all the offense Calgary needed to secure the win.
Calgary opened the scoring midway through the first period on the man advantage. Aydar Suniev snapped a wrist shot past Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt at 10:49, assisted by Adam Klapka. Less than four minutes later, Joel Farabee doubled the lead with another power-play wrist shot at 14:06, assisted by Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato for his first goal of the season.
Minnesota cut the deficit early in the third period. Michael McCarron connected on a slap shot at 4:39 following passes from Nico Sturm and Jonas Brodin to record his first goal of the season, but the Wild could not generate an equalizer despite outshooting Calgary in the final frame.
Special teams and goaltending told the story of the contest. The Flames scored on two of their four power plays, while the Wild came up empty on four opportunities with the man advantage. Cooley made 36 saves on 37 shots to earn the victory, while Wallstedt stopped 20 of 22 shots in the loss.
The result moved Calgary to 3-6-0 on the season and extended their winning streak to two games. Minnesota fell to 6-3-2 and is now winless in two consecutive outings (0-1-1).
Both teams return to the ice on Saturday, October 24. The Wild visit the Seattle Kraken, while the Flames host the Detroit Red Wings.
