Wild, gaining confidence, shuts out Avs for first time

Niklas Backstrom's 33 saves made Owen Nolan's two goals stand up.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: January 5, 2009 - 6:19 AM

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WILD 2, COLORADO 0

Up next: 6 p.m. Tuesday at Boston • TV: VS Network (830-AM)

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DENVER - Jacques Lemaire has been behind the bench for all 61 games the Wild has played against the Colorado Avalanche.

Asked after Sunday night's 2-0 victory if he knew the last time the Wild shut out the Avs, Lemaire said, "Uhhh, don't ask me."

Told never, Lemaire replied: "Never? That I can believe. That I can believe."

Behind Owen Nolan's first two-goal game with Minnesota and Niklas Backstrom's 33-save effort, the Wild won on the road for the first time since Nov. 29, ending a six-game losing streak outside of St. Paul.

"Even with all their injuries [Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny chief among them], that team still has four lines that can score, so shutting them out is a big accomplishment," said Brent Burns, who logged 25 minutes 24 hours after playing a career-high 33 minutes, 33 seconds against Detroit. "It's nice to pay your goalie back when he's been there every night for us."

The Wild won four of 14 games last month, but now has points in three consecutive games (2-0-1) for the first time since Nov. 13-18 and moved back into eighth in the West.

"Confidence is a big thing," Nolan said. "When you have confidence, you feel like you can do no wrong. Flip side, when you have none, it seems everything goes wrong. You can't buy a win, you can't get a bounce, you can't get a call. We're feeling pretty good about ourselves right now."

Despite playing the night before, the Wild, thanks to short shifts, had great jump and energy. The game had end-to-end action and more Wild scoring chances than in weeks (37 shots -- 66 if you add the shots the Wild either missed the net on or had blocked).

In the first period, Cal Clutterbuck goaded Colorado veteran defenseman Adam Foote into a retaliatory roughing minor, and Nolan redirected Burns' shot for a 1-0 lead. It was Nolan's sixth power-play goal this season and the 145th of his career.

"That's such a hard deflection to make," Burns said. "When you're straight on with a guy and you're right in line with the net, if he touches it any more, it's going wide."

Nine seconds after a Krys Kolanos minor expired, Kolanos' wraparound deflected off a skate and right to Nolan, who scored his ninth goal in 20 games.

"We're focusing on getting the puck to the net, and that's where I've been heading," Nolan said.

Backstrom, under pressure late, beat Colorado for the ninth time. Only Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff has more victories (11) against the Avalanche since the start of 2006-07. Backstrom, who beat San Jose on New Year's Eve, won consecutive regulation games for the first time since October. His best save came in the second, when he denied Wojtek Wolski on a breakaway. But Backstrom credited back-checking defenseman Kim Johnsson.

"[Wolski] couldn't deke on that side, so I was pretty sure he was going to shoot," said Backstrom, who posted his fourth shutout this season. "We played a good game. The guys really helped me out. It's always tough to play that team, but we were sharp, and getting two goals early really helped."

Suddenly, December seems a long time ago.

"We tried to get the guys to work as a team. It seems the guys have started to do it," said Lemaire, adding sarcastically, "When you do have success, then they believe, 'Oh, it could be the right way to play.'

"So now at least they know playing as a team, we have a better chance."

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