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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. Jim Kelly Jersey .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre. Shaq Lawson Jersey .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. http://www.authenticbillsfanatic.com/c- ... sey.aspx.Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. Jordan Matthews Jersey . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. Andre Holmes Jersey . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. REGINA -- Two years ago, GM Brendan Taman went outside the box to find a new head coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. On Thursday, he rewarded Corey Chamblin with a contract extension through the 2017 season after leading the Riders to just the fourth Grey Cup title in franchise history. "I went with my heart and some people may viewed it outside the box but I knew we had the right guy," Taman told reporters at a news conference. "Corey brings is a lot of things to the table I was looking for when we were hiring a head coach for this organization. "Hes knowledgeable, hes very confident, he can deal with people which is very important as a head coach, hes got a very very good ability to put a very good coaching staff together. The last two years weve been able to do that and were going to have another one this year and I think thats a huge credit to Corey." Taman hired Chamblin, then Hamiltons defensive co-ordinator, following the 2012 season after Saskatchewan posted a league-worst 5-13 record. The Riders finished third in the West Division with an 8-10 record in Chamblins first season, losing 36-30 to Calgary in the conference semifinal. Last year, Saskatchewan won eight of its first nine games before suffering four straight losses. The Riders finished the regular season with an 11-7 record -- second only to Calgary (league-best 14-4 mark). After dispatching B.C. 29-25 in the West semifinal, the Riders upset Calgary 35-13 to advance to the Grey Cup game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Before a rabid Mosaic Stadium gathering of 44,710, the Riders capped their season by downing Hamilton 45-23 for their first CFL title ever on home soil. "It was great for Brendan to think outside the box," Chamblin said of Taman. "He talks about making that decision from the heart, well, I coach from the heart and I thought that was a good match for us." The countrys sports editors and broadcasters rewarrded the Riders for their accomplishment by voting them The Canadian Press Team of the Year for 2013.dddddddddddd And in February, Chamblin was also named the CFLs coach of the year. And now, Chamblin has a deal that gives him the long-term security often sought by a pro football head coach. But Chamblin isnt about to rest on his laurels. "Its not something for us to sit back and say, Yeah, hey, this is what weve done," he said. "I think the biggest thing it does is it gives us a chance to work together to continue something. "We dont want to be one and done. Theres a lot of things that I think we still have left on the table that we have not accomplished." Chamblin heads into his third season having amassed a 19-17 regular-season record. Hes also 3-1 in the playoffs, including the Grey Cup victory. But hell have a much different team to coach in 14. Running back Kory Sheets -- the Grey Cup MVP -- and veteran slotback Weston Dressler both signed NFL deals with Oakland and Kansas City, respectively. Among the other players no longer with the Riders are defensive tackle Keith Shologan (Ottawa, CFL expansion draft), defensive back Craig Butler (Hamilton, free agent), running back Jock Sanders (Calgary, free agent), receiver Kierrie Johnson (Ottawa, free agent), linebacker Abraham Kromah (Hamilton, free agent) and punter Ricky Schmitt (B.C., free agent). However, Taman said one of Chamblins biggest strengths is his ability to communicate with players. "One of the main things we wanted was to have a head coach who was able to walk into this lockerroom and get the message across to the players," he said. "Corey does a very good job of that, obviously. "Whether the message is good or bad or indifferent, he gets it across. He also brings a definite passion to win, hes driven to win on a daily basis. He wakes up every day with ideas and knowledge to try and improve this team." 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