CALGARY, ALBERTA - The last time the Wild came to Calgary, it dropped its 11th consecutive road game. So Wednesday morning, Wild left winger Brian Rolston was asked what has changed considering the Wild had won nine of 12 on the road since.
Rolston didn't think twice: "Niklas Backstrom, no question."
Well, with the Wild trying to make a playoff push, the team suddenly has a predicament on its hands.
With Manny Fernandez still back in Minnesota mending a sprained knee and the team having begun a stretch of eight of 10 on the road, Backstrom suffered a "lower body" injury during the first period of Wednesday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome.
However, if backup Josh Harding plays the way he did in relief of Backstrom, the Wild could be all right. Wild assistant general manager Tom Lynn said Fernandez is ready to practice and will arrive in Edmonton today. Minor leaguer Miroslav Kopriva also will head to Edmonton.
After Backstrom stopped the five shots he faced in the opening period, Harding began the second period, was spotless on all 15 shots he faced in that period and wasn't beaten until defenseman Robyn Regehr tied the score with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in regulation with a blast from the point through David Moss' screen.
Even though Harding, a southpaw, was beaten by Jarome Iginla for Calgary's first shootout victory, he snagged the Wild a point and put it one point from division leaders Vancouver and Calgary.
Miikka Kiprusoff denied Pavol Demitra, who scored his 19th goal on a 5-on-3 early in the third, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the shootout, and Mikko Koivu missed the net. Bouchard, the Wild's last hope, was foiled on his spin-o-rama move.
In a tight-checking, hard-fought contest, the Wild rallied around its rookie goalie but was unable to defeat Calgary for the first time since Nov. 7, 2003 (0-7-2).
It must be something about the last game of the month. Fernandez reinjured his knee in the final game of January at St. Louis. Backstrom, the reigning NHL First Star for his 3-0 play last week, started all 12 games in February and was the Wild's savior, unleashing an 8-2-1 record.
Lemaire gave Backstrom high praise last week in Denver, saying, "If he didn't play like this, forget it. Playoffs, forget it." The Wild offered no other information on Backstrom's injury or its severity, other than to say it's "pending further evaluation."
Other than Harding, the only other goalie currently signed to an NHL contract in the organization is Kopriva, 23, a sixth-round pick in 2003, who is 6-4-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average and .890 save percentage with AHL Houston.
The Wild also suffered a scare in the second period when Marian Gaborik dragged himself to the bench and down the runway after being nailed by a Demitra shot. But Gaborik returned during the TV timeout and played a big part in Demitra's goal.
Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com
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