ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Surging into and out of the Olympic break, the Minnesota Wild have created a significant cushion between them and their competitors for the two Western Conference wild-card playoff spots. Thats not enough. With five days before they play next, this was still a game they were worried about -- and had to win. Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored in the third period, and the Wild notched their season-high fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Monday night. "You dont want to go a week without getting any points the way things are, even if you have a cushion," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "The cushion to me is nothing ... because its not about where the people are behind you. To me its much more of a race of what you need to get to." The Wild have 75 points, nine ahead of the cut, but they are off until Saturday. Then they will launch their final stretch of 20 games in 37 days. "I dont think we were at our best. I dont think we played at a level we need to play. But it doesnt matter when you look back at the score," Parise said. Kyle Brodziak also scored, rookie Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots during his 15th start in a row, and the Wild raised their record at home to 22-7-2 while playing in front of their fans for the first time in 25 days. Captain Mikko Koivu, back from a 17-game absence due to a broken ankle, skated on the second line with Dany Heatley and Charlie Coyle, apart from Parise for the first time. Parise gave the Wild some insurance by camping in the crease and deflecting a shot past Reto Berra with 5:16 remaining for his 21st goal. Just 77 seconds later, Mark Giordano scored to bring the Flames back within a goal. But Kuemper hung on to raise his record to 11-3-2. Kuemper has played so well in place of Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom that the Wild might not need to trade for a goalie before the deadline. "The confidence he has now, you can see that, and its just kind of the edge hes playing with thats good to see," Koivu said. "Hes playing winning hockey right now, so obviously thats a huge part of the team." Mikael Granlund had two assists while playing in the NHL for the first time against his brother Markus Granlund, who was called up from the AHL last week by the Flames. After a scoreless, sluggish and penalty-free first period, the pace picked up in the middle frame. Matt Cooke swooped in behind the net to poke the puck away from Berra. Brodziak crept toward the crease to corral the puck and knocked it in for the games first goal. "If you make a mistake the puck ends up in the net. I feel bad for the team because they played really hard tonight and we had a great chance to win," Berra said. Mike Cammalleri, playing perhaps his last game for the Flames with the NHL trade deadline looming on Wednesday, tied it 1-1 in the second period when Koivus pass ricocheted across the slot to him for an easy tap-in that Kuemper had no chance to stop. "No moral victories. We know theyre playing well, but wed like to win," Cammalleri said. With Coyle screening Berra on a power play, Spurgeon sent a slap shot through traffic for the lead. "We had to kind of grind that one out. I had a feeling this was going to be a difficult game for us right from the start," Yeo said. The Flames, buried in the Western Conference playoff race, could make some moves this week. Cammalleri scored for the first time since Jan. 6. He missed nine games during that stretch because of a concussion. "Cammi, you always know that hes going to show up to work," coach Bob Hartley said. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, as a guest of Wild owner Craig Leipold, watched from a suite. Leipold took him earlier in the day to Target Field, where baseballs Twins play, and TCF Bank Stadium, the football home of the University of Minnesota, for tours of possible outdoor game venues. The NHL put on six this season. Bettman has assured the Wild they will be awarded an outdoor game but hasnt committed to a timeframe. NOTES: Flames RW David Jones hurt his upper body in a collision against the boards. "It doesnt look very good," Hartley said. ... Koivu missed 17 games, plus the Olympics for his native Finland, because of a broken ankle. ... Markus Granlund posted his first NHL assist, on Giordanos goal. Wholesale Penguins Jerseys . The ninth-seeded Safarova doused Swede Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-3 on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. The Czech player was a finalist here two years ago and captured back-to-back doubles titles in 2012 and last year. 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Lives changed.The Ticats had plenty of chances to win the 102nd Grey Cup on Sunday. But people will point to the illegal block by Hamilton linebacker Taylor Reed that negated a 90-yard Brandon Banks punt return with just 35 seconds remaining as the turning point.The electric return would have put the Ticats ahead. Instead they lost 20-16 to the Calgary Stampeders, feeling the pain of a Grey Cup defeat for a second year in a row.Asked about the key play, Hamilton coach Kent Austin stopped just short of pointing the finger at the officials. Instead he managed to talk in pointed generalities, saying he was on record on what needs to be done to improve a lot of areas in this league. And I will take it up behind the scenes.But it can get a lot better in a lot of different areas, he added. We can get better as a league. We can. And we should, we need to.It changes lives. Its importantBanks wasnt talking. Wearing gold headphones around is neck, he stormed out of the Hamilton locker-room as the media waited to get in. Several reporters tried to get a comment, but he kept moving. He just looked back and said: I aint talking to nobody.A free agent, the five-foot-seven 149-pounders future is up in the air.It marked the second week in a row Banks had had a punt return for touchdown called back. The difference was that last week he ran two more in during a 40-24 win over the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern final.Reed, to his credit, faced the music.I didnt make my block, he said. I made it close enough that they called a penalty on it. Thats 100 per cent my fault.Ive got to be better than that, he added.The block came just feet from Banks at the Hamilton 20-yard line, although it seems unlikely Calgary linebacker Karl McCarthey would have laid a hand on the speedy kick returner. Reed appears to get one hand on the shoulder and the other on the back, sending the Stampeder flying.McCarthey got up, his hands raised in the air looking for the flag.There was sympathy from Stamps star running back Jon Cornish.Brandon Banks, an amazing reeturner, but youre depending on your blockers, and when your blocker doesnt block correctly it sucks, he said.dddddddddddd Its one of the worst feelings, because I know it firsthand.It would have changed the game — won the game for them ... but it didnt, he added.Asked again about the play, Austin said he couldnt comment.You know I cant answer that. And quite frankly Im not in a position right now to answer that. Thats the honest truth. I have to look at the play. I havent reviewed it. I havent looked at it on film.But I know a lot of things happen on special teams in this league. A lot of things. Some get called, some dont get called. Almost every single play on special teams, a lot of stuff happen. I will say that. Austin also gave credit to Calgary and said his team didnt make enough plays. It needed to get better. But he said the loss will haunt him.It will stay with me the rest of my life. For the rest of my life. Just like last year, he said. I hate losing. Just like everybody in that locker-room.The Hamilton dressing-room was like a funeral home. A feisty one. One player, his language blue, yelled at a cameraman to get his lens away, cursing. A teammate quickly told him to dial it down.There was shock and pain. For a time, the Ticats had seemed like the team of destiny after rebounding from a 1-6 start to finish first in the East with a 9-9 record.They outscored Calgary 9-3 in a second half that saw the Stamps defence bend but did not break.To lose like that after thinking we won was very tough. Shattering, said Hamilton offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski.Knowing that all we needed was one play. And then not getting that one play was really tough, he added.Quarterback Zach Collaros got stronger as the game wore on, using his mobility to keep plays alive as Stampeders swarmed him.I dont think we played a bad game, he said. We just didnt score the touchdowns.Austin shared his players hurt. But he saw the bigger picture.Sometimes things dont work out. Welcome to the game of life, said Austin. Its not always going to go our way.___Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' 'hat were wanting," winger Mason Raymond said. "I thought later in (Lightning) game we showed that desperation, but we need that for 60 minutes. I think at the end of the day for me, (the kkey is) playing the 60 minutes in that desperation mode.dddddddddddd" Finding that "desperation mode" could have a lot do to with having more energy in reserve. At least thats coach Randy Carlyles hope after watching his team run on empty. "We just come off a 10-day road trip and we play tonight off a back-to-back," Carlyle said Wednesday night following a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay. "Thats not an excuse, but its a trying situation, and its not easy." The Leafs have also made life hard on themselves by giving stars like Steven Stamkos way too much room close to the net. Defensive breakdowns like the ones that led to Stamkoss hat trick are likely on the to-do list for Fridays practice. "It comes down to doing the basic things, every night doing the simple things," defenceman Tim Gleason said. "I think as a group of five, we really have to button down, get pucks out when we can and do the simple things in our zone and the offence will take care of itself and well get our chances." If the Leafs are getting offensive chances, theres enough firepower from Phil Kessel (35 goals) down the lineup to make things happen. But Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and defenceman Jake Gardiner (five goals in seven games) scored against Tampa Bay and it wasnt enough. Only minutes after that defeat, players wanted to move on and separate themselves from this losing streak. The best way to do so is finding a winning recipe -- before it gets too late. The Leafs have played 71 games, the most of any team in contention in the East, which also means they no longer control their playoff hopes. The Detroit Red Wings, who visit Air Canada Centre on March 29, are in the drivers seat if they keep winning. Thats not a comfortable spot to be in with just 11 games remaining in the regular season. These are almost desperate times in Toronto. "Obviously we havent played as well as we need to, and were not sitting here saying that were playing the type of hockey that is required to have success," Carlyle said. "Well, we lost three games in a row and if we show the desperation that we displayed in the last half of the game for 60 minutes, we surely could improve our chances. Thats for sure." ' ' '