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Burns' overtime goal propels Wild past Avalanche

Mar 11, 2007 - 11:23 PM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- When the Minnesota Wild needed a lift in overtime, they turned to defenseman Brent Burns.

Burns scored with just 19 seconds left in the extra period to give the Wild a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Mikko Koivu had two goals and Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra each had two assists for Minnesota, which has won three straight meetings with Colorado.

The Wild spoiled a landmark day for Avalanche center Paul Stastny, who had an assist in the first period to extend his points streak to 18 games, breaking the rookie record set in 1993 by Winnipeg's Teemu Selanne.

"I try not to look into it as much as you guys are," Stastny said. "I think maybe in the summertime I will, when I don't have to worry about these big games coming up."

In overtime, Gaborik took a pass from Demitra in front of the net but had his shot denied by goaltender Peter Budaj. The puck bounced back out on the ice and Burns was there to slap it over the prone goaltender.

"Pavol made a great play to Gaborik, and Gabby made a move and got a pretty good shot away," Burns said. "He made a nice save and the rebound came off and no one really saw it. It just dropped right in front of me, so, I just tried not to miss the net."

It was the second game-winning goal this season for Burns, who also had one February 25 vs. Edmonton.

"The last seven games, Burns has been just great," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "He's just gone to another level. I just hope he won't listen to me."

Rookie Niklas Backstrom stopped 21 shots for the Wild (39-24-7), which pulled within two points of first place Vancouver (41-22-5) in the Northwest Division.

"We got the extra point there, but still we have to go game by game and not think about who is behind us and who is ahead of us," Koivu said.

Backstrom is 11-3-2 in his last 17 games.

"We played like a desperate team," Backstrom said. "We needed the two points. It was really important that we could battle through regulation and go into overtime and get the goal."

Milan Hejduk and Ian Laperriere each had a goal and Budaj made 26 saves for the Avalanche, (34-29-6), who moved within eight points of idle Calgary (36-22-10) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"To not win was disappointing," Budaj said. "I thought we played well. At this stage, one point is better than none."