Wild celebrate playoff spot with OT win

Marian Gaborik scored two goals, including the winner in overtime, and the Minnesota Wild celebrated clinching a playoff spot by beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Sunday at St. Paul, Minn.

Detroit beat Nashville minutes before Minnesota took the ice, which sent the Wild to its second straight playoff berth.

Pavol Demitra set up Gaborik on a two-on-one breakaway 3 minutes into overtime. The winner was Gaborik’s career-high 40th goal and his franchise-record 80th point.

Jeff Finger and Ruslan Salei scored for Colorado, which rebounded from a slow start to earn a point.

The Avalanche, playing without Peter Forsberg who was scratched with a groin injury, had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Minnesota has won three straight and is 6-2-1 in its past nine games. The Wild are peaking at the right time as they try to secure the third seed in the playoffs by winning the Northwest Division.

Both teams have two games remaining, including a season-ending matchup next Sunday in Colorado.

Penguins 3, Rangers 1: At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby set up goals by Marian Hossa and Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins, playing at close to full strength for the first time in weeks, moved into first place in the Eastern Conference by beating New York.

Red Wings 1, Predators 0 (OT): At Detroit, Johan Franzen scored with 1:39 left in overtime to give the Red Wings a victory over Nashville.

Sabres 2, Bruins 1 (OT): At Buffalo, N.Y., Andrej Sekera scored 39 seconds into overtime to lead the Sabres to a win over Boston and keep alive Buffalo’s threadbare playoff hopes.

Blackhawks 5, Blue Jackets 4 (SO): At Chicago, Patrick Kane scored the only goal in a shootout, and the Blackhawks remained in the hunt for a playoff berth with a victory over Columbus.

Sharks 3, Coyotes 1: At San Jose, Calif., Joe Thornton scored two goals in the first period, and the Sharks eliminated Phoenix from playoff contention.

Ducks 3, Stars 2 (SO): At Anaheim, Calif., defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored twice in regulation, goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made a pair of stops in a shootout and the Ducks defeated Dallas.

Canucks 6, Flames 2: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Trevor Linden broke open a tie game with two goals 5 minutes apart in the second period to lead the Canucks to a win over Calgary.