ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Mikko Koivu scored with 3:04 remaining to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Sunday night.
With both teams stagnant in the final period, Koivu grabbed the puck out of the corner, started like he was going to carry it behind the net and then made a lightning quick move to the short side and simply bulled his way out in front.
He stuffed the puck past a surprised Peter Budaj, lifting the Wild to their seventh win in the first eight games.
Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves and Mark Parrish and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild.
Minnesota is off to its best start (7-0-1) in franchise history and is the only team in the NHL that has yet to lose a game in regulation.
Andrew Brunette and Tyler Arnason scored for the Avalanche, who got 29 saves from Budaj. Colorado is 4-4 in its first eight games
Canucks 4, Blue Jackets 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ryan Kesler scored two goals, goalie Curtis Sanford made 35 saves in his first start of the season and Vancouver beat Columbus.
Markus Naslund and Kevin Bieksa added goals for the Canucks, who had lost their last two games. They won despite being outshot 20-0 during one lengthy span.
Kesler stretched his points streak to three games – he had three assists in Vancouver’s last two games – when he scored on a wrister from the left circle on the Canucks’ first shot, 5:39 in. It was just a straightforward rush, with no one in front of the goal, yet it eluded Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire.
Rick Nash ran his goal streak to three games for Columbus when he netted his own rebound during a 5-on-3 at the 2:38 mark of the second period.
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