Shootout win gives Wild running room in tight race

Richard Lam, Associated Press

Stephane Veilleux (19) celebrates with teammates Marian Gaborik, left, Martin Skoula, (41) and Pavol Demitra after scoring against the Canucks Thursday night.

Mikko Koivu's winner could wind up having a long-range impact for the Wild in the Northwest Division.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: February 18, 2008 - 1:00 AM

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- The way it's shaping up, there's a chance the Northwest Division winner will face one of its division rivals in the first round of the playoffs.

That makes winning the division that much more of a priority for the Wild, which would love to get home-ice advantage in the first round.

Thursday night in the Wild's 5-4 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota gained precious breathing room on its divisional foes.

Thanks to Brent Burns' second shootout goal in three games and Mikko Koivu's shootout winner, Minnesota moved four points ahead of idle Calgary, five ahead of Colorado -- which lost to St. Louis-- and six points ahead of Vancouver, which it faces again Tuesday in St. Paul.

This is why the Canucks were calling Thursday's meeting a "must-win" statement game. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said Thursday morning, "It's a must-win for us, too."

With the Wild leading 4-3, the game got to overtime when defenseman Alexander Edler scored his second goal of the game with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left to tie it.

But Niklas Backstrom improved to 4-7 all-time in shootouts. He entered with the worst all-time shootout save percentage in the league, saving only 18 shots on 38 attempts (.474).

Of all players, Stephane Veilleux got the puck rolling for the Wild with his first career two-goal game. Veilleux hadn't scored since Nov. 28, 33 games ago.

But Brad Isbister cut it to 2-1 in the second period, and the tide changed dramatically early in the third when Ryan Kesler and Edler scored 16 seconds apart for a 3-2 Canucks lead.

Kesler's goal came just as a power play expired -- Burns was tagged with a roughing penalty on his friend, Willie Mitchell, at the end of the second. Soon after Kesler's goal, Edler overpowered Backstrom with a howitzer.

But just as a Wild power play expired, defenseman Kurtis Foster tied the score at 3-3 when he one-timed a rocket by Roberto Luongo at 9:56 of the third. Then, 2:25 later, Marian Gaborik pulled the puck inside to wheel by Mitchell and unleashed a wrister by Luongo for his 30th goal.

In the first period, Veilleux, taking advantage of Todd Fedoruk's astute backcheck in which he lifted Edler's stick in the Wild end, gave the Wild a 1-0 lead when he faked a shot from between the circles to lure Luongo out of his crease.

In the second, Branko Radivojevic took a shot from an awkward angle along the goal line near the right-wing wall. Veilleux was driving the net, and the puck hit him in the leg and found its way behind Luongo.

But the Canucks answered three minutes later when Alex Burrows spun away from defenseman Keith Carney and took a backhander from Backstrom at a similar bad angle as Radivojevic's shot.

The puck deflected off Isbister and bounced by Backstrom.

On his next shift, Burrows, who has drawn the Wild's ire ever since he entered the NHL two years ago, went after non-pugilist Brian Rolston, who checked Mitchell, his old teammate, into the end boards.

Burrows instigated a fight with Rolston, Rolston's first fight since his rookie year April 12, 1995, according to hockeyfights.com. In that fight, Ken Klee also drew an instigating minor.