Zach Parise scored three times for his third hat trick of the season and added an assist as the Wild beat the Calgary Flames 6-2 on Thursday night, spoiling goalie Niklas Backstrom’s return to Minnesota.
Jared Spurgeon scored two power-play goals as Minnesota, which holds the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, matched a season high with its fourth-straight victory.
Parise got his three goals in a span of 11 minutes, 12 seconds of the first period, the fastest three goals by a player in Wild history. Nino Niederreiter scored his fifth goal in seven games and goalie Devan Dubnyk had 31 saves.
Backstrom, the Wild’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts, made 23 saves for Calgary in his second game after being acquired by the Flames at the trade deadline. Johnny Gaudreau scored his 28th goal and rookie Jakub Nakladal added his second.
