Wild 5, Avalanche 2
John Madden and Jared Spurgeon scored 2:35 apart in the third period as the Minnesota Wild improved their playoff chances with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
Martin Havlat, Andrew Brunette and Kyle Brodziak also scored for the Wild (35-25-7), who moved into a tie with Los Angeles for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Madden's goal at 10:55 broke a 2-2 tie and came on a nifty feed from Matt Cullen after Chuck Kobasew started the play with a takeaway behind the net.
Havlat, Spurgeon and Brodziak also had assists. Havlat has a five-game point streak.
Kevin Porter and Paul Stastny scored for the Avalanche (26-32-8), who are 2-16-2 since Jan. 20 and have the third-worst record in the NHL.
Porter's goal went in the net and quickly bounced out off the camera as play continued. The next stoppage came 3:19 later, when a review quickly revealed it was a goal.
The Wild's Niklas Backstrom made 28 saves to snap a personal three-game losing streak.