Gustavsson, Wild shut out Flames to extend point streak to 9

CALGARY -- Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves, and the Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to nine games with a 3-0 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

It was Gustavsson's second shutout of the season and in his NHL career.
"He's been awesome," Minnesota forward Matt Boldy said. "Nothing but good things to say. He's been standing on top of his head and making saves when he has to, saves he should make and saves he shouldn't make. He's making it easy for us."
Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Foligno scored for the Wild (36-21-6), who have won four straight and are 8-0-1 during their point streak.
Minnesota is three points behind the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division.
"It's important," Eriksson Ek said. "It's a really important time of year. For us, these games are real big. It's a tight race and we know that. Hopefully we can keep building on this."
Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves for the Flames (27-23-13), who have lost five in a row and are six points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I think it was kind of flat on our end from start to finish," Calgary forward Milan Lucic said. "At this point of the year, especially, you should be excited and have a lot of energy to play every single night. That's on us as individuals and that's on us as a team. As players, it's a big part of our preparation. Energy is something we have to create within."

Eriksson Ek gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 14:52 of the first period. Boldy's initial shot was tipped by Marcus Johansson before deflecting in off Eriksson Ek.
The assist was Johansson's first with the Wild since being acquired from the Washington Capitals on Feb. 28 in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
"I think 'Bolds' and 'Jojo' skate [really] well with the puck and like to hold onto it, and I try to create space for them and try to hang out around the net," Eriksson Ek said. "So far, it's felt pretty good and I'm sure if we keep playing together we can be better, too."
Foligno made it 2-0 at 13:49 of the third period when he swatted in a rebound that bounced back into the crease after initially landing on the top of the net.
"The goals today aren't pretty goals, especially not the second one," Gustavsson said. "We had a lot of traffic and we hit a bounce, it hits the back of the net and jumps forward. I don't know if I've seen that before. If we keep crashing the net, we're going to have some ugly goals and then we can have some nice goals also."

Foligno's goal came after Gustavsson made a left arm save on Tyler Toffoli's shot on a short-handed breakaway at 8:59.
"A game like tonight, it was for the taking and obviously we let it slip," Toffoli said. "I have to score. That's the bottom line."
Boldy scored on the rebound of Eriksson Ek's initial shot at 16:30 for the 3-0 final.
"We had a little bit of a struggle right before this streak, and now it feels like we find the defensive play and we win with one goal, usually," Gustavsson said. "It's just very positive in here and everyone is comfortable with playing those tight games, and we've had success with it."
NOTES: Gustavsson is 6-0-2 with a 1.32 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in his past eight starts. ... Defenseman John Klingberg was plus-3 in 19:09 of ice time in his Wild debut after he was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. ... Calgary defenseman Troy Stecher had one shot and two hits in 15:32 of ice time in his Flames debut. He was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes on Friday. ... Calgary is 0-15-3 when trailing after two periods this season.