By Jamie MacDonald
FOXSportsWisconsin.com
December 20, 2010
On a night where the crowd may have been thinned by a snowfall that blanketed the Twin Cities, the Wild did their part to keep things cooking against the Flames. In the Saint Paul half of the teams' home-and-home, the hosts ran their record to 15-13-4 while also adding to a modest points lead over Calgary in the standings.
Minnesota, after an even first period and an escape-artist second in which it was outshot, 13-3, made it a special night with a pair of third-period power-play goals en route to the 4-1 win.
"We had 20 minutes to win a game," said Todd Richards. "It was a game to go out to get, and we went out and got it."
Though the middle period again provided treacherous, there was the feeling, even as the shots mounted, that maybe this time the wheels weren't going to come off.
Minnesota slipped out of the second with only one early goal against, and with Niklas Backstrom proving the difference the rest of the way.
