Wild tops Avalanche

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Brent Burns and Branko Radivojevic scored, Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots, and the Minnesota Wild took over sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division with a 3-1 victory over the second-place Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

The Wild has 86 points, 2 ahead of Colorado and Calgary and 4 in front of Vancouver, which holds the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Minnesota, which had lost nine of 13, killed off a pair of early penalties, then scored on Burns' goal at 8:54 on the its first power play. The Wild had not scored in its previous 18 power-play chances at home.

The Avs' Joe Sakic tied the score on a power play at 4:51 of the second period, but Radivojevic tipped in a Burns' pass at 9:42 of the period for the eventual game-winner.