DOUGIE STRIKES AGAIN

Dougie Hamilton did it again!
Hamilton scored at 2:39 of overtime to lead the Flames to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center.

After his OT heroics, Hamilton praised goalie Mike Smith for backstopping the Flames to their fourth straight win by stopping 33 of 35 shots he faced.

"It helps when Smitty's back there," said Hamilton, who took a pass from Johnny Gaudreau and roofed a shot to the top corner, blocker side past Minnesota goalie Alex Stalock for his second straight game-winning goal. "I think he's been unbelievable. I don't think we're in these games if it's not for him. He played great again today. I thought they had a lot of really good chances. That's a good team in this rink."

Hamilton also scored the game-winner on Saturday with 16 seconds left in the third period to lead the Flames to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

"We're playing good, I think we're playing solid," Hamilton said. "We've just got to keep rolling."
Calgary's top line combined for seven points as Micheal Ferland and Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist each for the Flames (22-16-4) while Gaudreau chipped in with three helpers.

"Big win for us," Gaudreau said. "Obviously fighting with this team in the standings, we didn't want to give them that extra point there, but we found a way to get two points and keep this win thing going."

For Smith, it was his first win at the Xcel Energy Center since April 7, 2012, when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes.

"I thought our goalie helped us get the two points," said coach Glen Gulutzan, who also praised his penalty-killers for not allowing the Wild to score any goals on five power-play chances. "I think our guys have gotten real dialled in and they did a good job when we needed it. You can see the importance of specialty teams and penalty kill tonight."
Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist for the Wild (22-17-4) while Jared Spurgeon also scored. Ryan Suter had two assists while Stalock made 26 saves.

Smith had to be sharp for the Flames early in the game to keep the Wild off the scoresheet. After stopping a shot from the slot by Zach Parise, Smith then made a nice save to deny another great scoring attempt by Granlund.

Ferland opened the scoring for Calgary six minutes into the opening frame when he drove hard to the net and took a pass from Monahan before tapping the puck into a wide-open net behind Stalock, who slid too far across his crease to be able to make the save.

Although the shots were 8-8 in the first period, Smith was the busier of the two netminders as he did a good job to stand his ground to stop shots by Charlie Coyle and Eric Staal before making a spectacular glove save to absolutely rob Matt Cullen of a goal (and his 700th career NHL point).

Early in the second, Smith made two more great glove grabs to thwart scoring chances by Jason Zucker and Coyle while Stalock kicked out his left pad to stop a shot off the stick of Mark Jankowski at the other end of the ice.

The teams kept trading chances as Sam Bennett rang a shot off the crossbar before Smith made yet another glove save to stop a backhand shot by Granlund, who was left all alone in front of the Calgary net.

Calgary's top line went to work once again late in the second when Gaudreau intercepted a clearing attempt by Stalock before quickly dishing the puck off to Ferland. Monahan then deposited a backhand feed from Ferland into the net behind Stalock with just 50.1 seconds left on the clock.

Granlund finally beat Smith with a shot high to the glove side at 6:16 of the third before Spurgeon fired a shot off the far post and in behind the Calgary netminder at 12:13 to pull the Wild into a 2-2 tie.

"We let them back in the game in the third and they kind of took it to us and that got them into overtime," Hamilton said. "We have to do a better job on that."

ONE-TIMERS
In his fourth season with the Flames, Ferland has set career highs for both goals (18) and points (26) with 40 games still remaining in the season. Last year, Ferland finished with 15 goals and 25 points in 76 games … The Flames have won four straight games for the first time this season. … The Flames improved their road record to 10-5-4 while the Wild now have a 14-4-3 mark one home ice … Calgary boasts a 15-10-2 against Western Conference opponents this season … The Flames have compiled an 12-4-0 record when Monahan scores a goal.

NEXT UP
The Flames continue their four-game road swing when they take on the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (5:30 p.m., TV: Sportsnet West, Radio: Sportsnet 960 The FAN) before taking on the Florida Panthers the next night (5:30 p.m., TV: Sportsnet Flames, Radio: Sportsnet 960 The FAN). They return to the Scotiabank Saddledome ice on Jan. 20 against the Winnipeg Jets for a Hockey Day In Canada matinee (1 p.m., TV: HNIC, Radio: Sportsnet960 The FAN). Come down early from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for Hockey Happy Hour and enjoy food, drink and merchandise specials. You can get a 14 oz. domestic draught, 1 oz. highball, 6 oz. house wine, a cheeseburger or a pizza slice for just $5 each. As well, take an additional 10% of all regular-priced Fanattic merchandise.