Wild regains first place by beating Oilers

After a poor performance on Monday against Edmonton, Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom bounced back nicely, making 32 saves, as the Wild regained possession of first place in the Northwest Division with a 3-1 win over the Oilers. WATCH: Highlights from the Wild's win

''We wanted to bounce back here,'' he added. ''We had a lousy game there and we can't afford to have anymore games like that.''
   
The loss seriously damaged the Oilers’ postseason hopes. Edmonton entered Wednesday’s action with 12 wins in its last 15 games. The Oilers remain three points behind Vancouver, which holds the last playoff spot, and will play three of their final four regular-season games on the road. The loss kept Edmonton one point behind No. 9 Nashville, which was idle on Wednesday. The Oilers visit Colorado on Friday night.
   
''The teams are so close,'' Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. ''Most of the teams are going to go right about .500 I would think. We can't, obviously — we need somebody else to go considerably less than that.''
   
Radivojevic gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead just 3:01 into the game when he one-timed a pretty cross-ice feed from Marian Gaborik past Dwayne Roloson for his seventh goal of the season.
   
"Once they got that first goal, they tightened up defensively,” Oilers rookie forward Sam Gagner said. “I felt we played a pretty strong game for the most part. Colorado will be a tough test for us. This loss makes it even more important.”
 
Hill put the Wild up by a pair when he scored a rare goal at 7:19 of the first. With Minnesota on a power play, Koivu found Hill streaking in from the point and hit the defenseman with a blind pass for an easy putaway to make it 2-0. It was Hill’s second goal of the season.
   
“Mikko was everywhere tonight,” Hill said of Koivu, who now has 28 assists this season. “He played a great game for us. It reminded me of Ronnie Francis a little bit when I used to play with him (in Carolina). He’s a great player and he’s at the top of his game right now. We obviously feel good about the win. We gave up a few too many chances, but we’ll take the two points.”
   
Rolston increased Minnesota’s lead when he scored shorthanded 10:55 into the second period. Roughly 30 seconds after Hill was whistled for high-sticking, Koivu stripped Jarret Stoll of the puck at the Wild’s blue line and started an odd-man rush. The play culminated with an easy redirection for Rolston, who is now one goal shy of his fourth 30-goal season.
   
“The power play wasn't good for us tonight,” Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said after watching his club go 0-for-6 with the man advantage and surrender the shorthanded goal. “They got to us quickly. They pressed us quickly.”
   
Edmonton finally solved Backstrom when Fernando Pisani found the back of the net at 4:40 of the third period. Pisani collected a loose puck after it squirted out in front and one-timed a rocket past Backstrom for his 13th goal of the season.
   
It was the only blemish against Backstrom, who stopped 13 of 14 shots in the third period. The victory improved Minnesota’s record at the Xcel Energy Center to 22-11-5.
   
“You want to play as much as you can at home,” Backstrom said. “It’s the best place to play. We want to start the playoffs here, and that’s what we’re aiming for. We want to be in the playoffs and we want to start at home. We’ve got to get some more points and fight for that (No. 3) spot.”

Material from wire services and team online and broadcast media was used in this report