"When you've been struggling at home, you've got to find a way. If it's icing the puck more, keeping it out of our defensive zone, so be it," MacDonald said. "With Minnesota, that's the way they are. It's a patient game and sometimes they're a boring game to watch, but that's what they thrive on, teams falling asleep and they capitalize on it.

"I thought we did a great job staying with it."

Backstrom made 24 saves for the Wild in a losing effort.

The Flames will host the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday, while the Wild will head home and wait for Tuesday's rematch with the Flames.

NOTES: The Flames had one of the NHL's worst home records at 3-5-2 ... \Yeo weighed in on Taylor Hall's two game suspension after Saturday's morning skate, saying "We were confident that the league was going to take care of it. Now, we have to move forward." Wild right-winger Cal Clutterbuck, who was injured on a reckless hit by the Edmonton Oilers star in Thursday's meeting at Rexall Place, was not on crutches prior to Saturday's game, which must be a good sign ... Flames rookie left-winger Sven Baertschi returned to the lineup after missing 11 games due to a hip flexor injury. The Flames are still without the services of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who has now missed nine games because of a knee injury ... The Wild, who have used six rookies this season, made center Mikael Granlund a healthy scratch. The Flames' spectators included winger Roman Cervenka, the former KHL all-star who has been struggling lately.