Left winger Johnny Gaudreau scored the lone goal for the Flames (6-10-1) against the Wild on Tuesday night, while goalie Chad Johnson stopped all 27 shots he faced for his fifth career shutout.
After the game, Flames coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters that he's anxious to see how his players will respond less than 24 hours later in front of their hometown fans against the Coyotes.
"Sometimes those things, you can get off to a good start because you've kind of got your motor already running," said Gulutzan. "We can't look at our situation as far as a negative. We've just got to go in and do the same thing another night against an Arizona team that is waiting for us. We've got to be strong mentally now and just push through these things."
Whether or not he gets the start against Arizona or if Gulutzan chooses to go back to netminder Brian Elliott, Johnson said the Flames have to bring the same intensity and focus to playing the Coyotes that they had against the Wild.
"You have to sort of refocus and you can't get too high or too low," said Johnson. "We'll just have to enjoy now as quickly as possible and then refocus for tomorrow, so it'll be a tough game."
The win over the Wild snapped a four-game losing streak for the Flames, who were without the services of Gaudreau late in the third period.
"I don't have any update on Johnny," said Gulutzan. "I know he took a couple of slashes ... we'll see when I talk to the guys, how he is."
Meanwhile, the Coyotes (5-9-0) haven't played since dropping a 2-1 decision to the Boston Bruins at home on Saturday night.
They received some good news on Tuesday when coach Dave Tippett said he expects that center Martin Hanzal and goalie Mike Smith will return to action during their quick road trip to play the Flames in Calgary on Wednesday and the Canucks in Vancouver the next night.
"They're both going to accompany us on the trip," Tippett told Fox Sports Arizona on Tuesday. "Both of them had a good, hard practise again today. If there are no repercussions tomorrow morning and they're ready to go, we'll put 'em in."
Smith hasn't played since Oct. 18 -- a span of 12 games -- since sustaining an injury to his left knee, while Hanzal has missed the past six contests with an upper-body injury.
"They're two good veteran players," said Tippett, while noting that the plan is for Smith and fellow goalie Louis Domingue to split the two games on the road trip. "Anytime you get your No. 1 goalie back, that gives your club a boost. And Marty Hanzal, we know the importance he has on our team as a centerman just to stabilize us in that position."
To make room for Hanzal and Smith on the roster, the Coyotes assigned rookie center Christian Dvorak and goalie Justin Peters to the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.
If the Coyotes want to climb out of last place in the Western Conference, they'll have to find a way to replicate the success that the Flames had on the road against the Wild.
"We need to raise our desperation and compete," defenseman Connor Murphy said. "We need to turn it around before things slip away from us."
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