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Three second-period goals lift Wild past Avalanche

Nov 19, 2007 - 2:29 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Wild picked the right time to start getting back on track.

Matt Foy, Stephane Veilleux and Brent Burns each tallied in the second period as the Wild cruised to a 4-1 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday in a Northwest Division battle.

Despite losing eight of its previous 11 contests, Minnesota (11-7-2) leapfrogged Colorado (11-7-1) for the top spot in the division.

Foy gave the Wild a 2-0 edge when his off-angle shot sneaked between the pads of Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj at the 3:32 mark of the middle session. It was Foy's third career goal and his first since he notched the first two on October 12, 2005 against the Vancouver Canucks.

"We were an energy line," Foy said. "We are the fourth line to go out there and bang and crash and try to create some offense. Aaron (Voros) provides some size and Sheppard provides the skill and the smarts on the line. All three of us clicked well tonight."

Minnesota was then on the better end of a flurry of goals late in the period.

Veilleux netted his third goal of the season when he skated into the zone and unleashed a slap shot that beat Budaj on the near side with 4:45 left in the second to give the Wild a 3-0 advantage.

The Avalanche got on the scoreboard just 42 seconds later when Milan Hejduk's off-angle shot trickled behind Wild netminder Josh Harding, but it failed to turn the momentum as Minnesota responded almost immediately.

"Minnesota came at us pretty hard," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "It wasn't what we were looking for at all - and we were nowhere near good enough across the board knowing first place was at stake."

Burns accepted Brian Rolston's centering feed and blasted a one-timer past Budaj just 79 seconds later to extend the Wild's advantage to 4-1 with 3:44 left in the second.

"Foy and Aaron (Voros) came up with some big goals for us," Rolston said. "By playing our game, we came up with some chances offensively."

It was plenty of offense for Harding, who snapped a personal five-game losing streak. The 23-year-old made 27 saves en route to his first win since October 20.

"Everyone came into the game with the mindset that we have to be better," Harding said. "We knew we needed to tighten up. We're a defensive team and we haven't been playing defensively."

Voros' first-period tally with 4:18 remaining gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

"Some of our most talented players are out of the lineup," Voros said. "We needed a whole team effort like we had tonight."

Budaj, who relieved Jose Theodore in Friday's 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, stopped 22 of 26 shots.