CALGARY, Alberta _ Whether the Calgary Flames were really making "mountains out of molehills" like Bruce Boudreau asserted or they had reason to still be prickly after Wild players chopped at Johnny Gaudreau like lumberjacks in the last meeting, it doesn't really matter.
Nothing transpired in response to some's belief that the Wild targeted Calgary's best scorer last month with a barrage of slashes, something the Wild coach called "nuts."
Instead, the game many thought could be chippy was more choppy as the Wild looked in slow motion in the first two periods before rallying for a point after a 3-2 shootout loss.
In a response to one of its worst losses of the season Tuesday in Vancouver, the Wild got a third-period tying goal from Mikko Koivu and a terrific effort, especially in the third period, by Calgary native Devan Dubnyk to earn a point.
But after the Wild failed to even register a shot on two third-period power plays against the 28th-ranked penalty kill, Jason Zucker took a high-sticking minor with two seconds left in regulation.
That gave Calgary a 1:58 4-on-3 to open overtime, but Dubnyk made two more saves, then got help from defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who robbed Michael Frolik of the game-winner.
In the shootout, Kris Versteeg gave the Flames a 1-0 lead, but Jason Pominville tied it with his 26th career shootout goal. Sean Monahan then scored the winner after Charlie Coyle couldn't tie it.
The Wild, which was 11-4-1 in its past 16 games in Calgary, fell to 0-1-2 on its five-game road trip and 5-6-2 in its past 13 games.
It was the fourth time in the past seven games the Wild failed to get two points after having a lead.
After the Flames rallied from an early Chris Stewart goal with two goals 67 seconds apart in the first period, the Flames, who entered 6-3-1 in their past 10 games, locked it down to make for a hard to watch game.
That's no criticism of Calgary. They made life extraordinarily difficult for the Wild, which generated precious nothing in a scoreless second period.
Wild players had extreme trouble getting through the neutral zone all game. It led to several turnovers, bad passes and little room as Wild players stared right into the bodies of two defensemen all night long near center ice.
The Zach Parise-Eric Staal-Coyle line, coming off a tough game in Vancouver, had a real hard time. The trio had two even-strength shots and no points.
But 7:40 into the period, the Wild's second line had a terrible forecheck with Zucker coming close to scoring after defenseman Jared Spurgeon joined the attack. After Zucker gathered the puck, he found Koivu up top covering for Spurgeon and he smoked his third goal in five games.
Stewart, without a goal since Oct. 25 and without even a point in 14 games, gave the Wild an early lead after overextending his fourth-line shift into a top-line role with Staal and Coyle.
With Zach Parise pinned to the bench, Jared Spurgeon's shot was deflected in by Stewart to silence the Saddledome crowd.
But after Chad Johnson held the Wild's hot third line at bay on a terrific forecheck, the Wild didn't get a puck deep, something that was compounded by a line change. Sean Monahan skated fast into the Wild zone, pulled up and found a trailer, Jyrki Jokipakka. The defenseman hammered a puck from the top of the left circle.
Not only did defenseman Matt Dumba not try to block the shot, he then didn't defend Versteeg at the side of the net. He tied the score on a rebound.
Less than a minute later, Haula took a holding penalty and 10 seconds later, Mikael Backlund made it 2-1.
Dubnyk denied Mark Giordano's shot, then robbed Matthew Tkachuk on the rebound. But a puck spit into the crease and the only one to find it off a scramble was Backlund.
The Wild has given up four power-play goals on the road trip.
The Wild actually took three penalties in the first period after entering the game with the third-fewest minors in the NHL and averaging 2.9 times shorthanded per game.
Perhaps it's because the refs were trying to set the tone early. All refs go over the previous meeting as part of their pregame meeting, not to prejudge, but prepare properly, the NHL always says.
