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Theodore stellar in Wild's win over Rangers

Mar 4, 2011 - 5:30 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Minnesota goaltender Jose Theodore was stellar with 40 saves, as the Wild downed the New York Rangers, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden.

Kyle Brodziak, Casey Wellman and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored for Minnesota, which halted a two-game skid and climbed within one point of idle Calgary for second place in the Northwest Division.

"We are fighting for a playoff spot, and every time I have a chance to play, I need to be on top of my game," said Theodore.

Sean Avery scored the lone goal for the Rangers, who dropped their third consecutive game and continued their season-long struggles on home ice. Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals on 19 shots in the losing effort.

"You can call it bad luck, you can call it whatever you want, but we simply must score more goals," said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. "A big part of (this loss) was not getting that second goal after we took the lead."

The Wild trailed 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes but knotted the contest with a power-play goal at 4:36 of the middle session. With Erik Christensen in the penalty box for a high-sticking minor, Jared Spurgeon fired a one-timer from the centerpoint and it was deflected past Lundqvist by Brodziak at the top of the crease.

With 7:24 to play before the second intermission, the Wild grabbed a 2-1 edge. After Andrew Brunette maneuvered with the puck behind the net for the better part of 10 seconds, he finally sent a pass back to the right point. Brent Burns then released a shot and Wellman, from the low slot, redirected the disc into the back of the cage.

The scoring was capped by Bouchard at the 8:15 mark of the final stanza. Martin Havlat's drop pass found the stick of Bouchard, who lit the lamp with a wrist shot from the inner rim of the left circle for his eighth goal of the season.

The Rangers fired 16 total shots on goal throughout the final 20 minutes, but Theodore stood tall and the visitors skated off with the two-goal victory.

"We had a lot of shots and that's a positive, but we just didn't play well enough to win," said Avery. "We didn't score on our chances and they did."

Game Notes

The Wild converted their only power-play chance, while New York finished 0- for-4 with the extra skater...The Rangers fell to 14-16-3 at home...It was Avery's third goal of 2010-11...Theodore stopped 17 shots in the second period...The Wild halted a two-game skid at MSG.