Minnesota Wild Vs Calgary Flames
Time: Friday, December 11, 2009 at 9:00 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America
Last 10 matches: Minnesota 7-2-1; Calgary 7-2-1
Concussions continue to plague the Wild – forward Andrew Ebbett joins a list that already included defenseman Brent Burns and forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Petr Sykora. Forward Derek Boogaard has been battling the flu and is questionable.
Flames defenseman Cory Sarich is on injured reserve. Forward Craig Conroy (knee) didn’t skate Thursday, but coach Brent Sutter said it was just a maintenance day for the veteran. For Minnesota, Miettinen has seven of his eight goals for the season in his last eight games. Brunette has two goals and 10 points in his last seven games. Backstrom is coming off his first shutout of the season.
Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff has not allowed more than two goals in any of his last nine starts. He’s 6-2-1 in that span with a pair of shutouts.
Flames captain Jarome Iginla needs six assists to pass Theo Fleury for second on the franchise’s all-time list. Conroy is two points shy of reaching 300 in his tenure with Calgary.
First of six meetings between Northwest Division rivals – the final four won’t even occur until after the Olympic break. Calgary won five of the six meetings last season, though Minnesota did gain a couple points via overtime losses and won the most recent matchup, 4-0, on April 3. Daymond Langkow of the Flames and Andrew Brunette of the Wild led all scorers with three goals apiece. Highlights and results will be available soon..