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. D.J. Hayden Jersey . The Pope greeted Klose at his general audience Wednesday and the pair had a long chat. Klose is German like the pope, although he was born in Poland. In Sundays derby, Lazio took the lead in the seventh minute after Maarten Stekelenburg brought down Klose, resulting in the Roma goalkeeper being sent off and a penalty that Hernanes converted. Austin Seferian-Jenkins Jaguars Jersey .m. on Friday. Granger was acquired from the Indiana Pacers last Thursday for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen, but never played a minute for Philadelphia. The 76ers also received a 2015 second-round draft pick in the deal. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com/Youth-DJ-Hayden-Elite-Jersey/ . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. Will Richardson Jersey . "Yes, Id like to get them in," Detroits rookie manager said. "Mother Natures going to have a say in that." Sure enough, the Tigers had their game against the Kansas City Royals postponed because of rain on Thursday. DJ Chark Jersey .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes.NEW YORK -- Aaron Hill was ready to wait all night to get this game in. Hill had a two-run homer wiped out by a rain storm that postponed the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets in the fourth inning on Friday night after a delay of 2 hours, 11 minutes. "To get a win ... yeah," Hill said. "We need a few of those." The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on Sunday. The first game will start at 1:10 p.m. Manager Kirk Gibson said the Diamondbacks, who are in last place in the NL West at 18-31, will likely call up a pitcher for the makeup start Sunday. The Mets will go with Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second game of the traditional twinbill. Rafael Montero will make his regularly scheduled start in the opener against Bronson Arroyo. Matsuzaka has been pitching out of the bullpen this season but the converted starter doesnt see going deep into the game as a problem. "I pitched yesterday but just one inning, did not throw too many pitches," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I do not think 100 pitches should be a problem" The Diamondbacks are flying back to Arizona after the game Sunday. They host the San Diego Padres on Monday night but the doubleheader was the only option for the teams that do not meet again this season. They have no common days off the rest of the way. "Id rather stay," and wait it out, Gibson said, "but I can see it was raining." Last seasons series between the teams at Citi Field was also plagued by rain. "Good old New York," Hill said. Hill gave Arizona the lead in the second inning with a homer off Bartolo Colon that just cleared the fence in left field. Rookie Chase Anderson allowed one hit and a walk in his third big league start for the Diamondbacks. Dark clouds rolled in during the bottom of the third inning and the public address announcer made a request for fans sitting in exposed areas to move to protected areas. After Colon pitched a perfect fourth, thhe grounds crew brought out the tarp and rain began to fall shortly after.dddddddddddd The Mets swept the Diamondbacks in a three-game series in Arizona April 14-16, but the teams are in very different places now. The Mets are 6-14 in May while the D-backs are 9-9 even though they were just dropped three straight at St. Louis. Hill connected on a two-seam fastball from Colon after Miguel Montero led off with a nubber up the third base line for a hit. Mets manager Terry Collins before the game talked about how Colon, who turns 41 Saturday, needs to use his off-speed pitches more to be effective. He started out Hill with a slider then threw him four straight two-seamers. Colon has had an up and down start to his first year in New York. He gave up two runs in eight innings in his previous start, a win over Washington, but yielded seven runs in 5 2-3 innings against the Yankees five days earlier. He entered 3-5 with a 5.34 ERA. Anderson gave up a two-out single to David Wright in the first and walked former Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young leading off the second. Wilmer Flores grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and Anderson was perfect in the third. "I felt like I was starting to roll after that third inning," Anderson said. "If we went to the fourth, fifth, I felt pretty good." NOTES: Mets C Travis dArnaud (concussion) took BP on the field. His next step before getting MLB doctors approval is catching a bullpen session. When he is finally cleared to play in games, Collins thinks dArnaud will need 8-10 rehab at-bats. ... Diamondbacks RHP J.J. Putz (forearm strain) has been playing long toss and is nearing a bullpen session, Gibson says there is no timetable yet for his return. ... Gibson was watching on a TV in his office his son Cam play in the Big Ten baseball tournament. Cam had four hits in a win over Illinois. ... Up Next: Arizonas Josh Collmenter (2-2) is scheduled to face New Yorks Zack Wheeler (1-4) Saturday. 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