Takeaways: Wild top Flames 2-0 behind Jesper Wallstedt’s 36-save shutout

The Wild felt rookie Jesper Wallstedt deserved to stay in the net, and Wallstedt rewarded them for that decision.

In a battle of the backups, Wallstedt narrowly edged out the Flames’ Devin Cooley by blanking Calgary 2-0 Sunday night at Grand Casino Arena with 36 saves.

“It’s always fun to play the tight games,” Wallstedt said. “Everyone’s always on their toes and always locked in.”

It was Wallstedt’s first shutout of the season and second in his 10-game NHL career.

He was starting consecutive games for the first time after helping the Wild to a 5-2 victory at the New York Islanders on Friday.

“I knew it was a big opportunity to go out there and obviously try to make a difference,” Wallstedt said. “I felt very confident and felt the practice that I’ve done over the weeks when I haven’t played has played a huge role in where my game’s in a good spot.

“Obviously, the way our D plays right now is making it a lot easier for us goalies to kind of just focus on us doing our job.”

Marcus Johansson assisted on Boldy’s goal to extend his career-best point streak to nine games while playing in his 1,000th game.

Overall, the Wild have won four of their past five games to gain some separation from their early woes.

Goaltending doesn’t look like the problem for the last-place Flames.

Cooley matched Wallstedt save for save through the first period, with some of Cooley’s sharpest work denying Ryan Hartman in tight and gloving down a Jonas Brodin shot after Hartman skated in on a breakaway and handed off to Vinnie Hinostroza, who dropped the puck to Brodin.

Wallstedt was just as airtight, with one of his better sequences stopping Jonathan Huberdeau on a breakaway in the second.

Calgary did get one puck behind Wallstedt, but the goal was immediately waved off because the Flames had too many men on the ice. That gave the Wild one of their four power plays, which were unsuccessful, although one opportunity was only four seconds.

The Wild finally made good on a bona fide look vs. Cooley after a stretch pass from captain Jared Spurgeon set the Wild up in a 3-on-2 attack that saw Johansson thread the puck to a net-crashing Boldy for a five-hole finish 13 minutes, 47 seconds into the second period.

Johansson is up to 11 points during his nine-point tear, and he became only the fourth Wild player to pick up a point in his 1,000th game; Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter and Matt Cullen are the others.

“It feels like a long time, but also it feels like it’s blown by at the same time,” Johansson said. “So, it’s kinda weird. But I’m very grateful for it, and it’s fun to share it with the guys in here.”

In the third period, the Wild faced Calgary’s power play twice and survived both chances to go 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

“The habits and details have been strong, and that’s been the big difference,” Hynes said of the penalty kill. “We’ve been able to pressure more. We’ve been able to win some faceoffs. When we’ve had the opportunity to clear pucks, we’ve cleared pucks.”

Kaprizov’s empty-netter came with 50 seconds left after the Flames kept Wallstedt busy; he had 12 stops in the third period alone. Cooley totaled 17 saves.

“As long as we have more goals,” Johansson said, “they can have a few more shots if they want.”

Wallstedt improved to 3-0-2 in his first season as the Wild’s backup to Filip Gustavsson.

If the Wild are really going to turn the corner on their dreadful start, they needed this game to sustain their momentum.

All of a sudden, the Wild have won more than they’ve lost in the last week-plus.

The schedule isn’t going to be as friendly the rest of this homestand, so that’s why it was important for the Wild to prevail in this matchup and get more reps in a stingier style that clicks for them.

“It’s easier to smother [pucks] if there’s no tips or anything,” Wallstedt said. “So, I thought our D just did a great job with taking their sticks, and then I just have to work around finding the puck and seeing it.

“If they’re shooting from out there and I get to see it, I’ll try to keep the rebound as often as I can.”

BOXSCORE: Wild 2, Calgary 0

The Wild’s five-game homestand resumes Tuesday against the surging Sharks, who have stayed competitive since defeating the Wild in overtime last month.