Hamilton lifts Flames past Wild in OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored with 2:21 left in overtime to give the Calgary Flames their season-best fourth straight win, 3-2 against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.
It was the second game in a row that Hamilton scored the winning goal.

"Hamilton's] hot, he's just hot, give him the puck, you know," said Flames goaltender Mike Smith, who made 33 saves. "Johnny [Gaudreau] made two good plays tonight to set up goals, and we need that from our top line, and it was nice to see Dougie get rewarded again."
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Micheal Ferland and Sean Monahan each had a goal and an assist, and Gaudreau had three assists for the Flames (22-16-4).
"[Smith's] back there, I think he's been unbelievable," said Hamilton, who scored with 16 seconds left for a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. "I don't think we're in these games if it's not for him. He played great again today."

The Wild (22-17-4) rallied from down two goals in the third period to earn a point.
Mikael Granlund scored at 7:16 with a top-shelf snap shot to make it 2-1, and Jared Spurgeon tied it 2-2 when his slap shot went in off the post at 12:13.
"One [point's] better than none, I guess," Spurgeon said. "I think third period we played more our game, more aggressive, and our speed and holding on to the puck was a key factor in getting those chances. We've got to find a way to do that for 60 minutes."
Ferland gave the Flames a 1-0 lead when he scored on a pass from Monahan six minutes into the first period. Ferland has three goals and three assists in a three-game point streak.
Monahan made it 2-0 when he scored his 20th goal with 51 seconds remaining in the second period. He has three goals and four assists during a four-game point streak.
Alex Stalock made 26 saves for Minnesota, which lost for the first time in five games at home.
"It's a big win to start the road trip off," Gaudreau said. "Playing some good teams on this road trip, so to start off with a win in Minnesota against a team that we're kind of fighting in the standings is huge. Hopefully keeps our confidence up. … We got to keep this thing going."
Forward Nino Niederreiter did not play because of a lower-body injury and will miss the next three games before Minnesota's mandated five-day break. He has 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 31 games and has missed 12 games because of injuries.

Goal of the game

Hamilton's goal at 2:29 of overtime.

Save of the game

Smith stopping Zach Parise at 15:46 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Spurgeon's goal at 12:13 of the third period.

They said it

"It was nice to get the lead for sure, but to be honest, I don't think it was one of our better games we've played, especially lately. I think we've played a lot better games lately, but saying that, you never complain too much about getting a win. You can nitpick all you want about the game, but the main thing is we got the two points and we found a way to do that and we push forward."-- Flames goaltender Mike Smith
"In the third period, I thought we sat back a little bit too much. We should have pushed. But they're a good team. You're not going to come into somebody's building when you're fighting and you've got two quality clubs, and just push them around all night." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"The points are really important to get. You get one, you get two. Obviously, you'd like to get two, but the one point was really important, especially the way we got it, coming back in the third. Then again, we missed some Grade A chances that could have made the game a little bit different a little bit earlier." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"When you lose, you're frustrated, but at the same time, one point is more than nothing. And it shows if we play the right way, we can be a good hockey team, and we've just got to be persistent with it." -- Wild captain Mikko Koivu

Need to know

Gaudreau has eight assists during a four-game point streak. … The Flames began a four-game road trip. … Calgary's past seven games have been decided by one goal. … Granlund has 11 points (five goals, six assits) in the past nine games. … Spurgeon has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past seven games. … Minnesota is 11-1-2 in its past 14 home games.

What's next

Flames: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SUN, SNW, NHL.TV)
Wild: At Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)