Wild players wanted a stiffer penalty for Zach L’Heureux from the NHL but say they're happy to take matters into their own hands Saturday.

Matt Boldy's power-play goal 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the third period cut it back down to a two-goal game, but Forsberg scored his second of the night unassisted 16 minutes, 20 seconds into the frame, and Brady Skjei scored an empty-netter with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining to put the finishing touches on a Predators victory.

Kaprizov had a couple scoring chances for the Wild (28-16-4), who were delighted to get their superstar back after he missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Utah (21-19-7) in what was just their second shutout win of the season.

For the Minnesota Wild, getting key players healthy and back into the lineup is turning out to be just the first step in what is a longer-than-expected process of getting their groove back. Returning to winning hockey games with the likes of Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon in the lineup remains an elusive goal.

Nashville's Luke Schenn, left, and the Wild's Marcus Foligno fight during the first period Saturday. (Mark Humphrey/The Associated Press)

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4. Kuzmenko and Rasmus Andersson each had a power-play goal, and Martin Pospisil and Clark Bishop also scored for Calgary.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

Clark Bishop made it a three-goal game 11 minutes, 53 seconds into the third period. Then the Wild (28-17-4) tried to make a push. Freddy Gaudreau scored a power-play goal 2 minutes, 22 seconds later to cut it back to two. While Kuzmenko scored his second of the night just 14 seconds later for the apparent dagger, it wasn't quite over.

Nashville (15-22-7, 37 points) beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday, clinching the win with a 3-for-3 shootout performance from Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O'Reilly, and Steven Stamkos. It was the Predators' first appearance in a shootout this season.

Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!

The Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames met for the second time this season on Saturday evening, Jan. 25, and both teams were on the first game of back-to-backs.

MacKinnon capitalized on Blackwood's play late in the second period. He stickhandled in the Wild zone, which sent Middleton to the ice, sent the puck to Samuel Girard, took the return pass down the slot and beat Fleury with a wrister at 18:52.