The Wild blew Friday’s chance to clinch a spot, and they can’t clinch Saturday either. It will come down to Tuesday’s regular-season finale.

The Minnesota Star Tribune

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CALGARY, Alberta – Much like getting this far, after all the injuries and inconsistency, finalizing a playoff berth isn’t easy for the Wild.

They blew a chance to clinch Friday night by getting dumped 4-2 by the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome to continue the three-team race for the two wild cards in the Western Conference.

Calgary kept the Wild and St. Louis in play, the Flames now only three points back of both with three games to go.

Even if the Wild win Saturday at Vancouver, that won’t be enough to solidify a spot. They’ll still be in wait-and-see mode ahead of their regular-season finale Tuesday at home vs. Anaheim.

The Flames couldn’t be eliminated by the Wild, what with the Blues also in the mix, but they played like their season was on the line: They dominated the Wild, goalie Dustin Wolf needing to make a paltry 16 saves.

After an aggressive and authoritative start for Calgary that included a board-rumbling hit by Brayden Pachal on Vinnie Hinostroza, who subbed into the Wild lineup for Justin Brazeau, the Flames’ urgency culminated in the first lead when Mikael Backlund buried a rebound by goaltender Filip Gustavsson with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the opening period.

Before the goal, Gustavsson left his net to retrieve a dump-in and instead of playing the puck on his forehand to Jonas Brodin, as Brock Faber was motioning for, Gustavsson sent a backhander in Faber’s direction that eluded Faber. Calgary gained possession and sent the puck on net, where Backlund was ready for the put-back.

Minutes earlier, Gustavsson swiped a carom off the goal line with his stick after the puck pinballed off traffic in front.

Not only did Calgary have more and better chances than the Wild, but the Flames defense prevented the Wild from generating steady pressure; their closest call in the first was a tip by Marco Rossi off the post on the shift after Backlund’s tally.

That disparity carried over into the second period.

At 5:31, Yegor Sharangovich redirected in a headman pass off the rush, and then Nazem Kadri scored against a screened Gustavsson on the power play just 1:52 later.

By then, the Wild were without captain Jared Spurgeon, who left after skating only one shift in the second period before resurfacing for the third and then leaving again.

This was the second game back from lengthy injuries for Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, their return in an 8-7 free-for-all against the Sharks on Wednesday the light at the end of the tunnel the Wild were eyeing as they were hobbled by injuries in the second half and slid down the standings during a dry spell for their offense.

But even as they get closer to full strength — Jake Middleton was the only player sidelined by injury before Spurgeon’s exit — the Wild aren’t guaranteed a new lease on life.

They botched two power plays in the second period, including an abbreviated 5-on-3, and finished with just two shots.

Hinostroza and Eriksson Ek also put shots off the post, the Wild never building up enough momentum to kickstart a rally and ward off a season sweep for Calgary, which completed its rout with a breakaway 7:20 into the third period for Ryan Lomberg after he picked the puck off Marcus Johansson at the Flames’ blue line.

Gustavsson was replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury after that, posting 25 saves. Fleury had three stops in relief. Wolf’s shutout was spoiled by a Yakov Trenin breakaway at 15:39 before Gustav Nyquist added a one-timer with 1:30 remaining.

The Wild are still in control.

They don’t need help advancing, but that could change if they don’t respond Saturday.

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