The version of the Wild that squared off against the Flames on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center was different from its lineup the last time it battled its Western Conference rival, and Calgary played a role in the Wild's evolution.

In consecutive games Feb. 26 and March 1, the Flames creamed the Wild — first in Calgary 7-3 and then 5-1 at home. At the time, the Wild was in the middle of a rough patch. That week in Canada ended up being one of the team's toughest, and those two setbacks capped off four consecutive regulation losses for the first and only time in the regular season.

But the disparity between the Wild and Flames was eye-opening, with Calgary much more physical and aggressive all over the ice.

Frankly, the Flames gave the Wild a taste of its own medicine and since Calgary was emerging as a Stanley Cup contender (which it still is), the results seemed especially telling.

Cue General Manager Bill Guerin, who only a few weeks later bolstered the Wild's depth (center Tyson Jost), its toughness (winger Nic Deslauriers and defenseman Jake Middleton) and the team's goaltending (Marc-Andre Fleury) at the NHL trade deadline.

"I felt it just really exploited some deficiencies we had," Guerin said. "They were playing as well as I had seen a team play this year, and it was really sobering for me. We all felt that we needed to address some things, and I think we did. It's not [to] compete against one team. It's just something that I felt would make us better."

Injury update

All three of the Wild's injured players skated Thursday morning, but none of them suited up to face the Flames.

The team is hopeful captain Jared Spurgeon (upper-body injury), defenseman Matt Dumba (upper body) and winger Mats Zuccarello (lower body) will be in action on Friday for the regular-season finale against Colorado.

Asked if the Wild will be at full strength when the playoffs begin, Guerin said, "I do think there's a good chance we're 100 percent."

In the crease

Cam Talbot started in net Thursday for the Wild, with Fleury slated to play Friday vs. the Avalanche.

After suffering only his second loss with the Wild on Tuesday, a 5-3 letdown to the Coyotes, Fleury said he has to be better. Overall, the 37-year-old is 8-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .905 save percentage since the trade from the Blackhawks on March 21.

"I feel like there's always a goal a night that I can [prevent]," Fleury said. "It makes a difference for our team. There's some good saves in there. Still, it's too many goals. I can't be giving up this much and expecting our team to win every night. Just have to clean that up."

As for which goalie will be between the pipes for Game 1 against the Blues in the playoffs, Guerin said, "You can't make a bad decision or a bad choice. We have two guys that we have all the faith in the world in. We'll pick one of them."

Etc.

  • The Wild signed defenseman Simon Johansson to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning next season. Johansson is coming off his first season in Finland's Elite League, totaling eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points in 58 games with Ilves Tampere. The 22-year-old was drafted in the fifth round (148th overall) by the Wild in 2018.