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Wild seek to increase division lead over Avalanche

Mar 30, 2008 - 1:02 PM Colorado (42-31-6) at Minnesota (42-28-9) 6:00 pm EDT

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Wild look to move closer to the first division title in franchise history when they host the Northwest Division rival Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

Minnesota, which has won four in a row at home, can clinch a postseason berth with a win over Colorado. The Wild (42-28-9) currently lead both the Avalanche (42-31-6) and Calgary Flames (40-28-10) by three points in the Northwest.

Both Minnesota and Colorado have three games remaining, while Calgary has four contests left.

The Wild, who have earned at least one point in nine of their last 11 contests (5-2-4), are coming off a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard and defenseman Brent Burns scored power-play goals and Niklas Backstrom stopped 28 shots to record his fourth shutout of the season.

A big reason Minnesota is in position to win the division title is the play of Backstrom. The second-year Finn is 5-0-1 with a 1.39 goals-against average and two shutouts in his last seven starts.

Meanwhile, Colorado kept pace by rallying for a 5-4 shootout triumph over Edmonton on Friday, extending its winning streak to three games. Captain Joe Sakic tied the contest in the final minute of the third period and scored the decisive goal in the shootout.

Peter Forsberg recorded three assists on Friday for Colorado, which is looking to qualify for the playoffs for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons. The Avalanche have gone 11-5-0 since Forsberg signed a one-year deal on February 25, although the Swedish superstar has played in just seven of those games.

Minnesota has won four of the six meetings between the teams this campaign (4-2-0). The clubs meet for the last time at Colorado on April 6, the final day of the regular season.