Music: {allcanada} Calgary (10-13-2) at Minnesota (11-11-2)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

{allcanada} Calgary (10-13-2) at Minnesota (11-11-2)

Game info: 8:00 pm EST Fri Dec 3, 2010
TV: RSW, KSTC

Brent Sutter wants to see more urgency from his Calgary Flames.

Coming off a blowout loss, the coach expects a better effort Friday night when the visiting Flames look for their second victory in five days over a Minnesota Wild team trying to avoid a fourth straight loss.

Two nights after a 3-0 home win over Minnesota, Calgary (10-13-2) allowed four third-period goals in a 7-2 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday.

"That's unacceptable," Sutter said. "That tells you that we have a lot of work to do."

Sutter displayed his frustration when he put five defensemen on the ice for a third-period Calgary power-play. The Flames have scored once in 18 power-play chances.

"Obviously it was a message to us that we're not getting the job done," forward Rene Bourque (notes) told the Flames' official website. "We need the mentality where we want to score every time we get out there."

Sutter also wants to see his team focus more on the present instead of the past.

"You can't sit around and feel sorry for yourselves because it's going to have a huge impact on us," he said. "Today is a new day and we have to start getting ready for our next game."

Though Calgary has lost two in a row and four of five at Minnesota, the Flames should be confident knowing they outplayed the Wild (11-11-2) earlier this week.

Jarome Iginla (notes) had a goal with an assist against the Wild, giving the Flames captain eight goals and five assists his last 10 games. However, he was held without a point in a 2-1 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 5.

Miikka Kiprusoff (notes) made 32 saves against the Wild for his third shutout, then gave up a season-high seven goals on 36 shots against the Canucks.

Though Kiprusoff is 25-11-4 with a tie and 1.89 goals-against average against the Wild, he's posted a 3.08 GAA during a four-game skid at Minnesota.

The Wild hope their recent success at home against Calgary will help them avoid their sixth loss in seven games.

Matt Cullen's (notes) first even-strength goal of the season ended Minnesota's scoreless stretch of 118 minutes, 15 seconds in Wednesday's 4-2 home loss to Phoenix.

"We need to find ways to win these games," Cullen told the Wild's official website. "We have plenty of things to improve on. We need to continue to focus on getting better."

Martin Havlat (notes), who scored in last month's home win over the Flames, added an assist for his sixth point in four games.

Havlat could be more productive now that Pierre-Marc Bouchard (notes) is back in the Wild lineup. Bouchard played 14 minutes Wednesday after missing 104 games with lingering post-concussion symptoms.

Jose Theodore (notes) has stopped 60 of 66 shots while starting the last two games for the Wild, but Niklas Backstrom (notes) could be in net despite giving up 18 goals during his personal three-game skid.

Backstrom is 6-2-4 with a 1.70 GAA at home versus Calgary.