ST. PAUL, Minn. _ There was a three-minute span in the second period Tuesday night where a scientific calculator was needed to figure out the power plays.
As the referees got whistle happy in a 2 {-minute span, there was everything from a 49-second Calgary Flames 5-on-3 to a pair of 4-on-3s lasting 41 seconds and 37 seconds. In between, a couple abbreviated 4-on-4s and a lot of boiling-over Wild tempers, both with the Flames and the zebras.
In the end, the Wild were left frustrated by backup goalie Chad Johnson and the NHL's worst defense shutting it out, 1-0.
In the Wild's first home game since Nov. 1, the Wild opened a stretch of five games out of six in St. Paul by being blanked for the second time in five games.
Johnny Gaudreau's power-play breakaway goal in the first period would be all Calgary needed as Johnson posted his fifth career shutout with 27 saves.
It was certainly a disappointing start to a three-game homestand after winning two of three on the road the hard way: Winning at defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh and at Ottawa with an opening faceoff coming 22 hours after the puck dropped on a loss in Philly.
The Wild's penalty kill saw the ice a season-high six times, not just three times in the second period, but twice more in the first 5:55 of the third.
When the Wild weren't killing penalties, it just couldn't beat Johnson. Three times it had him beat in the game, but Jason Zucker and Mike Reilly hit iron and Mikko Koivu missed the net with his patented shootout move. This was against a team that was leading the NHL with 10 regulation losses and 3.63 goals against per game.
The Wild, who got Zach Parise back from an injury, got off to a solid start, generated three shots on its first shift from the Nino Niederreiter-Eric Staal-Charlie Coyle and seemed to be cruising past flat-footed Flames defensemen shift after shift.
But Reilly's hooking penalty put Calgary on the power play first, and moments after Koivu backhanded a shot way over the net on a shorthanded breakaway, Gaudreau, with Coyle, Christian Folin and Jonas Brodin chasing inches behind, coolly slipped a backhanded shot off a breakaway by Devan Dubnyk.
The Wild, 5-25-6 last season when the opponent scored first, entered the game 4-3 this season in such a scenario, fourth-best in the NHL.
But the goal seemed to change the complexion of the period because the Wild became loose in the neutral zone and suddenly began allowing the Flames easy access to the zone.
The Flames didn't score again in the period, but the Wild couldn't convert. Koivu led a 4-on-1, but Zucker whipped a bullet off the post. Before that, Zach Parise threw a puck at the net with linemates Erik Haula and Jason Pominville crashing, but Johnson kept the door closed.
The Wild opened the second period on a two-minute power play but managed one shot and a handful of passed up shots. After one of them, Mikael Granlund took a puck to the face and was lost for nearly half the period.
Then, a parade to the penalty box ensued. Evgeny Romasko, the first Russian ref in NHL history, leads the league in power plays per game, according to scoutingtherefs.com, and he shows why this period.
In a span of 2 minutes, 34 seconds, four penalties were called followed by a fifth 2:33 later.
That resulted in a 49-second 5-on-3 for Calgary, which was trimmed to a 41-second 4-on-3 and soon after the mayhem a 37-second Calgary 4-on-3.
The Wild's penalty kill stood tall though by killing three Flames power plays, highlighted by a Dubnyk read and robbery on Troy Brouwer.
At the tail end, the Wild drew a power play of their own but couldn't beat Johnson.
