Power Surge

The powerplay was humming.

And Devin Cooley did a lot of the rest, making 36 saves as the Flames collected their third win in four tries, 2-1 over the Wild at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Aydar Suniev and Joel Farabee counted first-period markers, while Cooley earned first-star honours for the second straight game, helping Calgary improve to 2-0-0 on its current four-game homestand.

The Turning Point:

Devin Cooley was lights out all evening, but he saved his best for last with a third-period stop off Matt Boldy with two minutes to play.

The Flames netminder made a series of stops, first off Jared Spurgeon's left wing blast, then off Kirill Kaprizov's rebound. But then the puck skipped across to the right circle to a waiting Boldy, who turned and ripped a low shot toward the net.

But out of nowhere, Cooley appeared, lunging across his crease to get his left pad and glove to the puck, denying the Wild on their best late opportunity to even the score as part of a 16-save stanza.

Sunny Side Up:

Aydar Suniev just keeps scoring. 

And if you were to extrapolate his output over a full, 84-game season, the young Russian would be on pace for 40 goals.

Suniev's opener Thursday was a byproduct of quick thinking, and a quick release. On a Calgary powerplay 10:49 into the contest, Suniev found space at the bottom of the right-wing circle, and from there, waited patiently for a pass from Adam Klapka to arrive. Once it hit his stick, the disc was off his tape, hurtling toward the Wild net too quickly for Minnesota netminder Jesper Wallstedt to react, giving Suniev his third goal in his sixth NHL appearance this season.

He's Beezin':

Joel Farabee has been a consistent threat for the Flames to start the new campaign and Thursday, he was finally rewarded with his first goal of the season. 

The winger latched on to a rebound in the left circle after Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt kicked out a Morgan Frost one-timer from the opposite flank, quickly wiring the puck into the yawning cage for his first goal of the campaign, giving Calgary a 2-0 lead in the process.

Through nine games, Farabee now has six points, including a team-leading five helpers, while his 23-plus minutes of short-handed ice-time is also tops among Flames forwards.

Ice Chips:

Calgary's penalty-kill went 4-4, including a second-period spell that saw the Flames negate two minor penalties in a span of 4:06 ... Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato each extended their point streaks to three games ... Ben Jones played 10:45 in his Flames debut.

Stat Pack:

Shots: CGY 22, MIN 37

Powerplay: CGY 2-4, MIN 0-4

Faceoffs: CGY 45.3%, MIN 54.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 13, MIN 8

Hits: CGY 25, MIN 26

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 14, MIN 20

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 4, MIN 4

Lines & Pairings:

FORWARDS

Joel Farabee - Ben Jones - Matt Coronato

Yegor Sharangovich - Morgan Frost - Aydar Suniev

Matvei Gridin - Martin Pospisil - Ryan Strome

Brennan Othmann - Jonathan Castagna - Adam Klapka

DEFENCEMEN

Kevin Bahl - Simon Nemec

Jake Middleton - Zach Whitecloud

Yan Kuznetsov - Zayne Parekh

GOALTENDERS

Devin Cooley (starter)

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

What's Next:

The Flames homestand continues with the '04 Celebration, this Saturday against the Red Wings at 8 p.m. MT. Calgary will wear the same red uniforms they sported during that run to the Stanley Cup Final, and the team will also be giving away green hard hats - made famous by the '04 squad - to 2,004 fans in attendance. GET TICKETS