ST. PAUL--To Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, Wednesday night's 3-1 victory over Edmonton was the most important game of the season.
It was also a little bit of fun in the midst of a tight Western Conference playoff race.
"Today and every game from here going to the end of the season is going to be the biggest game of the season,"
said Backstrom, who finished the game with 32 saves.
"We're going to have to be at our best and that's the fun thing, every shift from here on out counts and its fun to go out and play that way."
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The struggling Wild were able to cool off Edmonton Wednesday night with a quick start and a sustained effort.
Branko Radevojevic and Shaun Hill scored first-period goals and Brian Rolston scored short-handed in the third period. Mikko Koivu assisted on all three goals.
"We're very fortunate to have a player like Mikko and character guy like that on our team," Rolston said.
The victory marked the second win in five attempts for the Wild, who are battling for the Northwest Division lead with four games to play. Minnesota has 91 points and moved back into first place with the win. Calgary was idle Wednesday and dropped back to second with 90 points.
The loss was another blow to Edmonton's playoff hopes. The fifth-place Oilers, who defeated the Wild 5-3 Monday, lost for only the second time in seven games. Edmonton is 10th in the Western Conference standings with 83 points and trail Vancouver for the eighth and final playoff spot with four games to play.
Colorado defeated Vancouver 6-3 Wednesday night and are third in the division race at 88 points. Vancouver is fourth at 86 points.
Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish acknowledged Edmonton's playoff hopes are fading, but holds out hope.
"There are four games left and you never know, someone could go 1-3," he said. "You never know, but the probability grows less and less and we're a long ways away from where we were sitting before."
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The slow start that cost the Wild in Edmonton Monday night was not present Wednesday against the Oilers.
Radevojevic scored his seventh goal of the season three minutes into the game, scoring a back-door goal on a feed from Marian Gaborik. Hill scored on the power play four minutes later on a string of four tape-to-tape passes that began with Gaborik on the wing.
Hill took the last pass from Koivu and beat Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson for his second goal in four games, giving the Wild the 2-0 lead.
Roloson finished the game with 18 saves.
The Wild extended the lead to 3-0 halfway through the second period on Rolston's short-handed goal.
After Koivu forced Jarret Stoll into a turnover at the blue line, he raced with Rolston down the ice on a two-on-one break. Rolston redirected Koivu's cross-ice pass into the net for his 29th goal of the season.
Backstrom was superb in the second period and when he wasn't, the pipe was there. It saved him four times in the period, the closest call coming with four minutes left when Marty Reasoner's attempt at an open net glanced off the pipe.
When the whistle came moments later, Backstrom seemed to show his gratification by tapping the pipes twice with his stick while laying on the ice.
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"Sometimes you need those pipes and those bounces to go your way," Backstrom said. "Tonight those bounces were on our side and we were able to get some of them. Monday, they did not go our way."
The Wild retreated into a defensive shell during the third period to protect the lead, but could not preserve the shutout. Fernando Pisani pounced on a loose puck in front of the net and snapped a shot into the top of the net with 15:20 left in the game.
On Friday, the Wild host Vancouver and Edmonton heads to Colorado. Calgary's next game is Saturday at home against the Oilers and Rolston insists the Wild are not watching scoreboards.
"It just doesn't matter whether Colorado or Vancouver or Calgary wins at this point to us," he said. "We just have to take care of our game."
Notes
E Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom recorded his 30th win of the season and can set the franchise season-win mark Friday against Vancouver.
E Duluth native Sean Hill has two goals and two assists in the last four games. His power-play goal was his first since Nov. 23, 2005 against New Jersey.
E Edmonton has not won in St. Paul since Jan. 16, 2007, a streak that extended to seven games Wednesday.
