Two points are on the mind of both teams on Thursday night as the Calgary Flames visit the Minnesota Wild for the rubber game of their three-game season series. The series is level after Minnesota won 2-0 in early November and Calgary answered 4-1 in early December. The latest numbers show a clear contrast, with the Flames struggling mightily and the Wild in a playoff position in the Western Conference. Here, I break down this matchup on the ice and give you my Flames vs Wild prediction.
Our Flames vs Wild Pick
Pick: Minnesota Wild -1.5 ATS PRO
Confidence: 3/5
Game Snapshot
Matchup: Calgary Flames vs Minnesota Wild
Date & Time: Thursday, January 29, 2026, 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul, Minnesota
Broadcast: ESPN+
Key Storylines
The season series between these teams is even at 1-1. Minnesota won 2-0 on November 9 and Calgary won 4-1 on December 4, setting up this decider for the season series on Thursday.
Form guide: Minnesota is 3-1-1 across its last 5 games, including a 4-3 OT loss to Florida and an OT win over Detroit. Three straight games for the Wild have gone to overtime or a shootout. Calgary is 1-2-2 in its last 5 games and just fell 4-3 in OT to Anaheim despite leading twice in that contest. The Flames have dropped four straight games going into this contest.
Injuries to monitor: Minnesota’s blue line remains thin with Jonas Brodin out multiple weeks and Zach Bogosian also out. Calgary lists Blake Coleman on injured reserve.
Goaltending
Likely starters: Dustin Wolf for Calgary and Jesper Wallstedt for Minnesota are expected to start on Thursday for their respective teams.
Recent logs: Wolf stopped 17 of 21 shots in the OT loss to Anaheim. He has a 3.03 GAA on the season. Wallstedt has had a better year with a 2.71 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
Key skaters
Minnesota: Kirill Kaprizov has had multi-point efforts pile up lately and sits at 64 points to lead the Wild. Kaprizov also leads the team with 28 goals.
Calgary: Nazem Kadri paces the team with 35 points, while Matt Coronato is Calgary's leader in goals with 14.
Special teams gap: The Wild power play conversion rate is 24% and is superior to a Flames power play that has converted at 15.8% for the season.
Betting Trends & H2H
The home team is 2-0 in games between these teams so far this season.
Calgary is 8-16-2 on the road so far this year.
Minnesota is 15-6-7 in their home games during the 2025-26 season.
I am expecting that we will see the home team continue to dominate the season series between these clubs. The Flames have struggled on the road on a consistent basis this season and that trend should continue here to the benefit of the Wild. I'll lay the puckline with the Wild at plus money, after they logged a 2-0 shutout at home against the Flames earlier in the year.
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