Wild seeking a shot in the arm against Colorado

DENVER

With no points in the first-round series with the Colorado Avalanche and the Wild facing elimination tonight, Gaborik is at his wits' end. His last resort will be to re-examine one frame at a time his career-best 42-goal, 83-point 2007-08 campaign, one that included a boatload of highs.

His three overtime winners are on the list, as well as that game last month against San Jose in which he stole the Wild a point with two third-period goals, including the tying goal with 29 seconds left.

And, of course, Gaborik's five-goal performance against the Rangers will be watched and watched, and then watched again.

"I've [scored] before, and I can do it again, so I'm going to watch some goals and my highlights and try to get my confidence back," said Gaborik, the Wild's captain. "Hopefully it's going to help. It has to.

"Definitely confidence is a very important thing. I don't have a lot of confidence right now, obviously. But I'm going to try to get it back early in the game [tonight] as soon as possible. I'm going to try to get shots and skate and do everything I can. We have nothing to lose. Well, we've got everything to lose. I've got to do everything I can to bounce back and hopefully get us back home."

It's not a shock that Gaborik has become the story of the series. It is a shock he has become the story of the series by being a postseason flop, however.

Gaborik typically has been a great playoff performer, scoring 12 goals and 21 points in 23 playoff games before this season. During the Wild's 2003 run to the Western Conference finals as a 21-year-old, Gaborik scored nine goals and 17 points in 18 games.

It's been eight years since the Wild made Gaborik its first draft pick. It's safe to say the pressure on Gaborik has never been greater. He says tonight's game is "definitely right up there" with the biggest in his career.

"Especially after struggling so far, I definitely want to redeem myself and try to leave everything out there to help the team win," Gaborik said. "[Tonight] we're still in or we're gone. Myself, I know how important this game is. I'm going to try to do everything I can do."

Brian Rolston, who has been involved in 10 of the Wild's 11 goals this series and has six points, said Gaborik should work hard tonight and not think about his slump, or he will try to do too much.

"It's just a matter of Gabby getting that one bounce," Rolston said. "Gabby's in a little rut. But the thing is he's working hard. We all go through it as goal scorers. Not the best time to go through it, but we all go through it.

"We could easily be talking about me not producing right now."

Coach Jacques Lemaire sees a "looser" Rolston than last postseason.

"Gabby now, he's tight," Lemaire said. "I told him [Friday] morning, 'Keep working, shoot pucks, try to go to the net a little more, try to find where there's pucks going to go when there is a shot on net and you're close, try to get in on net and get some shots so you can get out of this.' "

Oh, is that all?

In the playoffs, time is limited and space is tighter, especially when opponents key specifically on stars. Look at Ottawa, which was swept by Pittsburgh in the first period. Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson didn't score a goal. Washington is down 3-1 to Philadelphia, and Alex Ovechkin has one goal. Anaheim entered Friday down 3-1 to Dallas, and Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf each had one goal; both players scored again in the Ducks' Game 5 victory Friday night.

That doesn't make Gaborik feel any better, though.

Gaborik knows the window is close to shutting, and if the Wild's season ends tonight, he also is aware most of the blame will land right across his $6.5 million shoulders. Memories are long.

"I'm the guy who has to score and has to produce. That is my job," Gaborik said. "There are no excuses for me that I haven't been productive. [Tonight] is a chance to make people forget how I've played and to try to do something about it, have a big game and help get us a Game 7."