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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Surging into and out of the Olympic break, the Minnesota Wild have created a significant cushion between them and their competitors for the two Western Conference wild-card playoff spots. Thats not enough. With five days before they play next, this was still a game they were worried about -- and had to win. Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored in the third period, and the Wild notched their season-high fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Monday night. "You dont want to go a week without getting any points the way things are, even if you have a cushion," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "The cushion to me is nothing ... because its not about where the people are behind you. To me its much more of a race of what you need to get to." The Wild have 75 points, nine ahead of the cut, but they are off until Saturday. Then they will launch their final stretch of 20 games in 37 days. "I dont think we were at our best. I dont think we played at a level we need to play. But it doesnt matter when you look back at the score," Parise said. Kyle Brodziak also scored, rookie Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots during his 15th start in a row, and the Wild raised their record at home to 22-7-2 while playing in front of their fans for the first time in 25 days. Captain Mikko Koivu, back from a 17-game absence due to a broken ankle, skated on the second line with Dany Heatley and Charlie Coyle, apart from Parise for the first time. Parise gave the Wild some insurance by camping in the crease and deflecting a shot past Reto Berra with 5:16 remaining for his 21st goal. Just 77 seconds later, Mark Giordano scored to bring the Flames back within a goal. But Kuemper hung on to raise his record to 11-3-2. Kuemper has played so well in place of Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom that the Wild might not need to trade for a goalie before the deadline. "The confidence he has now, you can see that, and its just kind of the edge hes playing with thats good to see," Koivu said. "Hes playing winning hockey right now, so obviously thats a huge part of the team." Mikael Granlund had two assists while playing in the NHL for the first time against his brother Markus Granlund, who was called up from the AHL last week by the Flames. After a scoreless, sluggish and penalty-free first period, the pace picked up in the middle frame. Matt Cooke swooped in behind the net to poke the puck away from Berra. Brodziak crept toward the crease to corral the puck and knocked it in for the games first goal. "If you make a mistake the puck ends up in the net. I feel bad for the team because they played really hard tonight and we had a great chance to win," Berra said. Mike Cammalleri, playing perhaps his last game for the Flames with the NHL trade deadline looming on Wednesday, tied it 1-1 in the second period when Koivus pass ricocheted across the slot to him for an easy tap-in that Kuemper had no chance to stop. "No moral victories. We know theyre playing well, but wed like to win," Cammalleri said. With Coyle screening Berra on a power play, Spurgeon sent a slap shot through traffic for the lead. "We had to kind of grind that one out. I had a feeling this was going to be a difficult game for us right from the start," Yeo said. The Flames, buried in the Western Conference playoff race, could make some moves this week. Cammalleri scored for the first time since Jan. 6. He missed nine games during that stretch because of a concussion. "Cammi, you always know that hes going to show up to work," coach Bob Hartley said. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, as a guest of Wild owner Craig Leipold, watched from a suite. Leipold took him earlier in the day to Target Field, where baseballs Twins play, and TCF Bank Stadium, the football home of the University of Minnesota, for tours of possible outdoor game venues. The NHL put on six this season. Bettman has assured the Wild they will be awarded an outdoor game but hasnt committed to a timeframe. NOTES: Flames RW David Jones hurt his upper body in a collision against the boards. "It doesnt look very good," Hartley said. ... Koivu missed 17 games, plus the Olympics for his native Finland, because of a broken ankle. ... Markus Granlund posted his first NHL assist, on Giordanos goal. Nick Anderson Rays Jersey . Eller said the Oilers were a "junior team" that was "all over the place" before Edmontons 4-3 victory over Montreal on Tuesday night, Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins took offence to Ellers comments and used it to motivate his youthful team. Willy Adames Jersey . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/256i-joe...y-rays.html.com) - A top-10 showdown is on tap in at the McKale Center on Saturday, as the 10th-ranked Arizona Wildcats play host to the eighth-ranked Utah Utes in a key Pac-12 matchup. Charlie Morton Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career. Tampa Bay Rays Pro Shop .I dont think it comes to mind in this business, in this game, the Philadelphia Flyers forward said. You dont try to lose games.Who are some of your favorite former players?Probably former Red Wings defensemen Brian Rafalski and Niklas Lidstrom. With Mr. Rafalski, hes kind of similar to me in the way that he played. Hes a smaller guy who played in the NHL for a while and he won so I liked to watch him as much as I can.Out of your brothers, who tends to mess with you the most?Definitely P.K., hes a prankster. Malcolm is more a laid back quiet guy, but P.K tries to prank us as much as he can.Whos moms favorite?Malcolm [laughs], I dont think she has any favorites, but Malcolm definitely caused her the least grief growing up.Do you ever get sick of talking about your brothers?Uh no, not really, I love hearing about my brothers success and Im just happy for them and when people ask me about it Im happy to talk about it.Is it cool to see them succeed at the pro level (PK in the NHL, Malcolm in the AHL)?Yeah definitely, I think you look back to the preseason when they played against each other for half a game thhat was pretty exciting for my family and I.dddddddddddd We enjoyed it.What is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?I taught myself how to play piano a little bit. What can you play on piano? I can play some soft songs [laughs] I can play Apologize by One Republic, ladys like that one Im sure.When you play NHL 14, which team do you pick?Vancouver, no doubt. Have you ever played as yourself? Yes I have. What are your thoughts on your player rating? Not bad [laughs] I could be a little bit better Im sure every player would agree. I boost some attributes, my shot and speed.Have you seen this .gif of P.K? What do you think of it?No I havent seen that, thats hilarious, thats pretty funny. It looks pretty funny when hes hopping up and down dancing.Out of the Subban brothers, whos the best at going BarDown?Me. PK just tries to put it through the net, I try to pick corners and hit the bar. Malcolms got a pretty good shot though, I wouldnt count him out. ' ' '