Three-goal burst gives Wild a win

With so many teams fighting for a playoff spot in the West, points are absolutely crucial.

That's why it didn't shock Wild coach Todd Richards when Dallas and Los Angeles, two teams in front of the Wild in the standings, didn't appear to even try to score in the waning minutes Monday.

"It's getting to the point now where that one point is so valuable, you don't want to lose that point," Richards said.

That's why after Andrew Brunette tied Tuesday's game against Colorado late in the second period, it would have been tempting for the Wild to try to force overtime and take its chances there.

Instead, the Wild attacked, broke a tie game wide open in the third period and took both points in a 5-2 victory over the reeling Avalanche.

"Getting one point at home here wasn't good enough," Richards said.

The Wild had 12 players register at least a point, including goalie Niklas Backstrom. Martin Havlat, Jared Spurgeon and Kyle Brodziak each had a goal and an assist, John Madden scored the winning goal and Backstrom made 28 saves.

"Guys did a really good job in the third being patient and believing that we're going to get that one shot," Backstrom said.

The Wild tied the eighth-place Kings with 77 points but remained in ninth place because Los Angeles has played one fewer game.

"Going on a four-game road trip, we knew we had to win this last one at home," Spurgeon said.

Up 1-0 after Havlat's team- leading 21st goal in the first, the Wild put forth an awful second period. Kevin Porter and Paul Stastny scored to give the Avs a 2-1 lead.

But 1:11 after Stastny's goal, Ryan Wilson closed his hand on the puck to swing the door open for Minnesota. Twenty-four seconds later, sick-as-a-puppy Brunette swatted Pierre-Marc Bouchard's rebound out of the air to stop a 12-game goal drought.

The Wild rode that momentum into the third. Finally, the Wild scored the go-ahead goal on Madden's 11th goal and eventual 23rd career winning goal at 10:55 of the period.

The Wild, unlike the second period, broke out cleanly with speed from the defensive zone. Chuck Kobasew's suffocating forecheck freed the puck from Matt Hunwick. Kobasew passed 10 feet to his left to Matt Cullen, who sent a seeing-eye goalmouth pass to Madden for the tap-in.

"When you catch teams with a clean exit, you catch them flat-footed," Madden said. "But Chucky did all the work there."

Only 2:35 later on a delayed penalty, Havlat, who had a tremendous game, found Spurgeon, who darted up the gut when he sensed the delayed call. Spurgeon, from between the circles, roofed a top-shelf, backhanded beauty for his second career goal.

"Marty did most of the work," Spurgeon said.