St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Zach Parise amassed two goals and an assist and the Minnesota Wild pulled away in the third period en route to a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Xcel Energy Center.
Mikko Koivu scored once and assisted on two other goals for Minnesota, which fell behind 1-0 before dominating the rest of the way and concluding a four- game homestand with a third straight win. Three of those tallies came in the final 12 minutes.
Josh Harding turned aside 24-of-25 shots in another strong performance between the pipes, with Justin Fontaine and Zenon Konopka also potting goals in the rout.
Jiri Hudler's sixth goal of the season represented the only score for the Flames. Reto Berra stopped just 19-of-24 chances in his second NHL start.
The Wild entered the contest with the league's second-best power-play, and the unit came through once again to snap a 1-1 deadlock nearly 6 1/2 minutes into the second period.
With Calgary's Lance Bouma in the box for a hooking call, Minnesota's Ryan Suter sent a pinpoint pass to an awaiting Parise on the doorstep of the goal. Berra got a piece of the initial re-direct attempt, but Parise scored on the follow-through to put the Wild ahead.
"I thought we had a sluggish start, but we got better as the game went on and capitalized on our chances," said Parise.
Minnesota remained in front heading into the third period by killing off a penalty, then scored three times in the final session to create some distance.
Fontaine skated from behind the Calgary net and unleashed a wrister that found its way through traffic with 8:05 elapsed in the frame. Just 33 seconds later, Konopka rifled a give from Torrey Mitchell over Berra's shoulder on a 2-on-1 for a 4-1 Minnesota lead.
Parise struck again with 6:46 left to play, firing a wrister into an open left side after taking in a nifty drop pass from Koivu.
"We just didn't control the puck that well in the third," said Flames forward David Jones. "We didn't play a full 60 minutes tonight, and that's a disappointment."
The Flames began the game strong, peppering Harding with shots early on and grabbing a 1-0 edge when Hudler converted a give-and-go with Bouma 5:24 in.
Minnesota answered less than four minutes later, with Koivu backhanding the rebound of Parise's try from the right side past Berra.
Game Notes
Including playoff matchups, the game was the 1,000th in the Wild's 13-year history ... Suter finished with a pair of assists ... Flames defenseman Chad Billins made his NHL debut and was given the secondary assist on Hudler's goal ... Calgary went 0-for-4 on the power play and has now come up empty on the man advantage in seven straight games, going 0-for-22 during that time frame ... The Wild won for the first time this season when failing to record the game's first goal (1-3-1).
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