Flames blow lead in the third to fall to the Wild

Ryan Suter had a goal and two assists Saturday night to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 comeback win over the Calgary Flames.

Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Suter tied it at 10:33 when his long wrist shot eluded Mike Smith, who appeared to be partially screened by his own defenceman.

Less than two minutes later, Suter set up Jared Spurgeon, who wired a 40-foot slap shot over Smith’s shoulder and under the crossbar to give the Wild the lead.

Chris Stewart with his sixth goal in as many games and Daniel Winnik with an empty netter also scored for Minnesota (2-2-2). The Wild now return home where they’ll kick off a six-game homestand on Tuesday night against Vancouver.

Sean Monahan and Kris Versteeg scored for Calgary (4-4-0), which has lost three straight at home, scoring only three goals over that span. The Flames head onto the road next with back-to-back games with Nashville and St. Louis beginning on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.

The late offence helped Suter redeem himself after his slashing penalty put Calgary on a two-man advantage early in third period, which led to the home side taking a 2-1 lead.

Versteeg walked off the sideboards uncontested and as he bowled his way through the top of the crease, he jammed the puck past Alex Stalock as he was knocked to the ice 43 seconds into the period.

The original penalty was on Wild coach Bruce Boudreau for delay of game for his unsuccessful offside challenge of the Flames’ tying goal with 27.5 seconds left in the second.

That goal, in which Troy Brouwer set up Monahan in the slot for his team-leading fifth goal, made it 1-1.

Alex Stalock was great in net for Minnesota. Keeping the Wild in it with 18 saves in the first period as Minnesota was outshot 18-8, he helped slam the door on the Flames in the end too, stopping Monahan from the slot with just over a minute left and also denying Mikael Backlund on the rebound.

Making his second start, Stalock finished with 35 stops. Smith, who has played every game for Calgary, had 28 saves.

Jaromir Jagr played only four shifts for Calgary, before leaving the game in the first period with a lower-body injury. He did not return.

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