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Miettinen's late goal lifts Wild past slumping Avalanche

Feb 12, 2009 - 5:22 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Antti Miettinen's late heroics helped continue the struggles of the Colorado Avalanche.

Miettinen snapped a tie with 71 seconds remaining in the third period, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 triumph over the Avalanche on Wednesday.

Owen Nolan recorded a goal and an assist, Pierre-Marc Bouchard also tallied and All-Star Niklas Backstrom made 20 saves for the Wild, who have won four of their last five contests.

"We try to be better every day," Backstrom said. "We need to be better if we want to make the playoffs. The thing is, we can't be too satisfied. We want to improve our game."

Ryan Smyth netted a pair of goals and Andrew Raycroft stopped 23 shots for the Avalanche, who have lost three consecutive games.

"The effort and how we played, how we wanted to play, was there all the way through," Colorado coach Tony Granato said. "It was a heck of a game, but it certainly hurts to lose it, no doubt."

Andrew Brunette, a former member of the Avalanche who was named captain of the Wild for the month of February, won a battle behind the net with Colorado defenseman Ruslan Salei. Brunette then delivered a centering pass to a streaking Miettinen, who converted a one-timer for his 12th goal of the season.

"I had a couple of chances there, but most important is, we got two points," Miettinen said. "It didn't matter who scored the game-winner."

Minnesota thought it had taken the lead with 3:24 remaining in the third period, but rookie Cal Clutterbuck's goal was disallowed after video replay clearly showed he kicked the puck into the net.

"It's kind of hard because I didn't actually kick it," Clutterbuck said. "I just stopped and my leg slid along the ice. So, I was kind of hoping. We got one, though."

Selected first overall in 1990 by the Avalanche franchise when it was known as the Quebec Nordiques, Nolan gave the Wild a 2-1 advantage when he redirected blue-liner Marek Zidlicky's shot off the goalpost and into the net with 6:16 left in the middle session.

Smyth tied the contest at 7:23 of the final period, deflecting defenseman John-Michael Liles' attempt past Backstrom for his 18th tally of the season.

Smyth also had forged a 1-1 deadlock with 6:28 remaining in the first. After blue-liner Jordan Leopold's shot caromed off the end boards and in front of the net, Smyth won the race to the puck and fired in a wrist shot.

"Not good enough. Close isn't good enough," Smyth said. "We've got to find a way to push that into overtime and get a point, hopefully get two. We had a better effort overall. We've got to play a full 60 minutes, and we can't have any mental lapses at any time."