After losing an overtime heartbreaker in Anaheim on Wednesday night, the Calgary Flames returned home to face the Minnesota Wild with their playoff chances in the balance.

The Flames ended up playing the precise game they needed to play. They out-shot and out-chanced the Wild in all three periods. They scored first and never trailed in the game. Both sides of their special teams units came up big in key moments. And when the Wild made a third period push, the Flames bent but they didn’t break.

The Flames beat the Wild by a 4-2 score in front of over 18,000 boisterous fans at the Saddledome to remain alive in the Western Conference playoff picture, and drag themselves within three points of both the Wild and the St. Louis Blues for the final two wild card playoff spots in their conference.

“I liked the whole game until the end when it got a little scrambly,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska following the game. “But I thought that was one of the better complete games we played this year. I mean, the energy in the first, it seemed like it was there right in the get-go. I guess that would be it.”

“That was an awesome night,” said captain Mikael Backlund. “Right from the first drop of the puck, I thought everyone was on their toes and excited to play and I thought we played a really good game. The building was cooking tonight, it was great.”

The Flames got contributions from basically every part of their lineup. They got goals from Backlund, Yegor Sharangovich, Nazem Kadri and Ryan Lomberg. Kadri’s power play goal in the second period stood as the game-winner, and provided a respite for a power play that went 0-for-6 against Anaheim.

The penalty kill blanked a potent Wild group, allowing just two shots over 3:43 of overlapping Wild man advantages – including a brief two-man advantage for the visitors. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Flames have the second-best penalty kill in the NHL, erasing 86.2% of opponent advantages.

“It was huge,” said Backlund, of their second period penalty kills. “They could have got some momentum there late in the second and we found a way to kill it off and build off it and just didn’t look back.”

While he wasn’t tested often, Dustin Wolf was sharp in net and made 16 saves for his 27th win of the season.

“I thought we played with desperation,” said Wolf. “This is a time of year where we can’t lose games. This was obviously a critical four-point swing. We found a way to score four goals, and we’ve been pretty successful when we do that.”

With the backs against the wall and their playoff hopes and dreams in the offing, the Flames played a composed, structured game. They looked basically the way they’ve looked for the bulk of the season, and it led them to a pretty decisive win.

“I always keep going back to, it’s been the same since the beginning of the year,” said Huska. “They’re a resilient group. They really are. I don’t really believe they ever think they’re out of a game. I feel like they feel like they can close every game out. They’re a resilient group. And like I said before, I just don’t think they’re going away.”

The Flames are back in action on Sunday when they host the San Jose Sharks.