It had been 21 games since Rasmus Andersson last punctuated a goal with his patented death stare, and 26 games since Martin Pospisil last found the net. Neither streak can hold a candle to the six-year wait Clark Bishop had endured between his last NHL snipe and the one he celebrated Saturday.

Frederick Gaudreau cut the deficit 4-2 with a power-play goal on the rebound at 14:15 of the third period but Kuzmenko responded 14 seconds later at 14:29 with a wraparound goal to make it 5-2. Marcus Foligno came up the slot for a rebound at 18:46 to make it 5-3,

Was it harder than it should have been in the end? Yes, and the Calgary Flames will probably have a few chats on Sunday morning about the way the Minnesota Wild came storming back late in what felt like it was going to be a lopsided win on Saturday.