Wild get much-needed win over Avs

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 second-place Colorado on Monday night in St. Paul, Minn.

The Wild have 86 points, two ahead of Colorado and Calgary and four 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 their previous 18 power-play chances at home.

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 for the eventual game-winner.

Canucks 3, Coyotes 1: At Vancouver, B.C., Henrik Sedin scored two goals; both on rebounds of shots by twin brother Daniel, and the Canucks defeated Phoenix.

Taylor Pyatt also scored on the power play and Roberto Luongo stopped 25 shots as the Canucks moved into a tie with Calgary and Colorado for sixth place in the Western Conference, two points behind Minnesota for the Northwest Division lead, and four points ahead of ninth-place Nashville.

Daniel Carcillo scored for the Coyotes and Ilya Bryzgalov finished with 25 saves. Phoenix, 10th in the West, dropped seven points behind Vancouver for the final playoff spot.

Leafs’ Sundin, Antropov out

Mats Sundin (groin) and Nik Antropov (knee), the Maple Leafs top scorers, will miss Toronto’s game tonight at the Islanders because of injuries.