The move was made Monday. Roster spots opened when forward Brad Staubitz was sent to the Houston Aeros and defenseman Clayton Stoner was put on injured reserve with a lower body injury last week.

Stoner joined forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Guillaume Latendresse and Jarod Palmer on IR. They’re all out indefinitely with concussions. Forward Cal Clutterbuck also sustained a lower body injury Saturday against Columbus.

Scandella has three of the 10 goals by Wild defensemen this season. He was sent down five weeks ago.

If Foucault plays, he will be the NHL-most 39th player used by the Wild this season. The franchise record is 40, set last season.

The Wild host Anaheim Tuesday.

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They shot 65 times, and 35 of them were on target. Only one went in the net. This is the way a once-promising season is going for the sputtering Wild, who not only wasted a Saturday night at home full of stellar scoring chances but suffered their second loss of the week to the NHL’s worst team.

“I’m pretty sure we controlled that whole game,” said right wing Devin Setoguchi, who had the only goal in a 3-1 setback against Columbus. The Wild lost by the same score on the road on Tuesday.

More humbling for the Wild was the fact that this came against their former coach, Todd Richards. Fired after two seasons in charge of the Wild, Richards is now the interim coach for the Blue Jackets.

“Honestly, it’s not about me. It’s not about me feeling good. I’m happy that we won the game as a team,” Richards said.

So for all the areas in which they could point out positives, the Wild were forced to swallow the bitter pill of another loss. In February, for teams with designs on playing in the postseason, forechecking, passing and skating well simply aren’t enough. The only fundamental that truly matters at this stage is the standings.

“This time of year, we know we need wins. At this time of the year, outplaying a team unfortunately doesn’t matter a whole lot,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “Deserving to win, unfortunately, doesn’t count for a whole lot. We have to find ways to win. We have to win games where we outplay the team like we did tonight, and we have to win games sometimes where it’s even or 50-50.”

The Wild allowed only 19 shots on goal to Columbus on Saturday, but they didn’t play with ferocity in front of either net. That’s an attribute their game could use a lot more of, whether it’s muscling for position for the rebound poke-in or moving a scoring threat out of the goalie’s way. There is a certain finishing touch they’ve been lacking since racing to a 20-7-3 record, the best in the league at that point in mid-December.

Since then, they’re 5-15-5. Following Saturday’s loss, they are 12th in the Western Conference. They’re an insignificant four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, but they’re four teams behind now, and that is significant.

“This isn’t the time of year for moral victories. We have to find a way to put points on the board,” center Matt Cullen said.

The Wild got captain and first-line center Mikko Koivu back from a left shoulder injury last week, but they were outscored 8-3 in their first two games with him in the lineup. They’ve scored only six goals in the last five games.

“If I knew the answer to scoring goals, I’d have 50. It’s a confidence thing for us right now,” Setoguchi said.

There are no road trips longer than two games left on the Wild’s schedule, so that should help their cause. After tearing into the team following a loss on Thursday to the Vancouver Canucks, Yeo has opted for the more-uplifting approach, trying to remind his players of what they’re capable of.

“This team’s not going to go away. We’re going to get back to work and find a way to win,” Cullen said.

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Defenseman James Wisniewski had an empty-net goal in the final minute and added an assist in his first time back from a 17-game absence because of an ankle injury. Rick Nash assisted on both of Umberger’s goals to give the NHL-worst Blue Jackets their second win this week against the Wild.

Devin Setoguchi had a goal for the second straight game, a snap shot in the first period off a sharp pass by Mikko Koivu that gave the Wild the lead. But Umberger answered less than 5 minutes later, scoring on a slap shot that slipped through traffic and past goalie Niklas Backstrom with 56 seconds remaining in the opening frame of the physical game the Wild couldn’t afford to lose.

They controlled the flow for most of the night, outshooting the Blue Jackets 35-19 and generating plenty of prime chances near the net. But they struggled to catch passes cleanly, and despite a resurgence of energy after a lifeless effort in a loss to Vancouver on Thursday, the Wild dropped their fourth straight game.

The Wild are 5-15-5 since mid-December, when they had the NHL’s best record at the 30-game mark. Now they can’t even beat the Blue Jackets, who have been buried at the bottom of the Western Conference all season. Columbus won 3-1 at home against Minnesota on Tuesday.

Steve Mason made 34 saves and earned his first victory in seven starts since Dec. 29 for the Blue Jackets, with primary goalie Curtis Sanford scratched because of a back injury. Mason gave up 10 goals over his previous two turns.

Kyle Brodziak nearly broke the second-period tie at the beginning of a power play by trying to backhand a loose puck past Mason as he fell over in the crease. Mason was able to get his glove on it before it crossed the line, and the call of no-goal was upheld by a replay review.

Then Umberger knocked in a rebound over Backstrom’s head to give the Blue Jackets the lead in the waning seconds of the second period.

That was the first power-play goal scored by the Blue Jackets on Minnesota’s ice in eight matchups. They failed to score on 16 straight man-advantages until Umberger struck late in the second period.

Columbus also had two power-play goals on Thursday at Dallas in a 4-2 loss to the Stars.

NOTES: Wild RW Cal Clutterbuck took a hard hit from Fedor Tyutin and limped to the locker room in the second period. He didn’t return. … Nash has five points in four games. … Wild RW Brad Staubitz cleared waivers and was assigned to Houston of the AHL. He had no goals or assists, while averaging only 6½ minutes over 43 games, this season and was a healthy scratch in five of the previous seven games. The move left the Wild with only 21 players on the active roster. Their only scratch was D Justin Falk. He was replaced by D Mike Lundin, a healthy scratch in 16 of the previous 20 games.

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Maxim Lapierre, Manny Malhotra and Ryan Kesler also scored for the Canucks.

A CT scan earlier in the day on Henrik Sedin’s foot came back clean and the Canucks captain played in his 553rd consecutive game, the second-longest active streak in the NHL. Calgary defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was at 559 entering Thursday.

Henrik’s foot appeared to be just fine when he flew in behind a Wild defender and gave the Canucks (34-15-5) a 3-1 lead early in the second period.

Dany Heatley scored 13 seconds into the game for the Wild (25-21-8), the fastest goal to start a game in team history.

Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu returned after missing the previous eight games with a shoulder injury and centered a line with Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.

But Koivu’s return wasn’t enough to spark an offense that’s scored just once in four straight games and ranks 29th in the NHL in goals.

The Sedin twins have scored 27 career goals and totaled 107 points against Minnesota, but Thursday was the first time both scored in the same game.

Kesler’s goal was an empty-netter late in the third period.

Looking to get his team’s offense going, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault put the twins on separate lines Tuesday against Nashville. They were back together against Minnesota and now have combined for 113 points this season.

After Heatley’s quick goal, Daniel Sedin scored at 4:26 of the first with Vancouver on a 5-on-3 power play.

Lapierre made it 2-1 with 42 seconds left in the first. Henrik Sedin made it 3-1 just 50 seconds into the second.

The Wild, 3-4-1 without Koivu, went almost 20 minutes without a shot on goal to close the first period and start the second before the Koivu-Setoguchi-Heatley line got going again and gave Minnesota some life.

The Wild had a 20-17 advantage in shots when Malhotra tipped Kevin Bieksa’s wrist shot past Niklas Backstrom, causing the Wild goalie to stare up in the air in frustration.

Setoguchi scored his 11th goal at 4:02 of the third period.

Minnesota entered tied with Phoenix for eighth in the Western Conference. The win brought the Canucks within one point of idle Detroit for most in the NHL.

It was also the first time in seven games that the Canucks played in a game decided by more than one goal.

Cory Schneider started in net for Vancouver. Regular goalie Roberto Luongo has shut out the Wild three straight times, all at home, but has lost three straight in Minnesota with a 7.00 goals-against average.

Notes: Lapierre, Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis were all given game misconducts with less than a minute to play. Cal Clutterbuck was given a misconduct for Minnesota. … The previous Minnesota record for fastest goal to start a game was 21 seconds by Matt Johnson on March 23, 2003, against Detroit. … Minnesota placed defenseman Clayton Stoner on the injured list with an unspecified leg injury. Wild coach Mike Yeo said Stoner’s status was week to week. … Canucks wing Dale Weise was scratched with a foot injury.

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — The Minnesota Wild will get a boost when their captain returns, but can that boost an energy level? Is this team really a play-off team or just fading?

Mikko Koivu plays Thursday night, but it’s not just ice this team needs from him. They need leadership and as quiet as he is, he’s the one that commands respect.

The Vancouver Canucks are visiting — and that better put a game face on the team.

Watch Mike Max’s report above.

Wild coach Mike Yeo said before Thursday’s game against Vancouver that he expected Koivu to be back on the first line, centering Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to face the Canucks. That was the combination at the beginning of the season, but injuries and ineffectiveness have prompted Yeo to move Heatley and Setoguchi around several times.

Koivu has played in only 41 of their first 53 games, but he still led the Wild with 24 assists.

Defenseman Clayton Stoner was placed on injured reserve with an unspecified leg injury. Yeo called his status “week to week.”

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It worked.

Rookie defenseman David Savard scored his first career goal and added an assist to lift the Blue Jackets past the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Tuesday night.

“My message to them (after the game) was I will sleep pretty good tonight and enjoy this one,” said Richards, who is 4-7-1 for Columbus since taking over for Scott Arniel on Jan. 9.

Richards was 77-71-16 with the Wild from 2009-11 before being fired last April.

Antoine Vermette added a power-play goal and Jeff Carter scored his second goal in as many games after missing 10 with a shoulder injury for Columbus, which has a two-game winning streak for only the second time this season.

“We wanted to come out with our best effort and get a big win,” Carter said.

Curtis Sanford made 28 saves to improve to 10-12-4.

Nate Prosser scored his first career goal for Minnesota, and Niklas Backstrom made 34 saves.

Wild coach Mike Yeo said the effort wasn’t nearly good enough for a team trying to stay in the playoff race.

“The reality is that I don’t think we deserved to win the game,” he said. “It’s a game of one-on-one battles and they got the better of us — by a large margin — in that department tonight.”

Columbus played physical from the outset and outshot Minnesota 14-7 in the first period.

After Derek Dorsett had a thunderous check on Prosser behind the Wild goal, the two fought at 7:10 of the period with Dorsett landing punch after punch.

A bit later in the period, Savard scored with a shot from the point through traffic past Backstrom at 8:59.

“You never know when it’s going to happen,” said the 21-year-old Savard, who’s played 18 career games. “The first one’s done so hopefully there’s more to come.”

Unfazed by the tussle with Dorsett, Prossser sent a one-timer past a screened Sanford at 18:39 to tie it at 1-1.

In the second period, Sanford kicked away a hard Erik Christensen power-play shot to keep the game even.

Vermette then made Columbus’ next power play count, sliding in a backhand from the slot for his seventh goal at 15:31 to make it 2-1.

“We made some nice passes, we had good net presence and that turned out to be a big goal,” Vermette said of his first in 11 games.

In the third period, Carter jammed home a rebound for his 12th goal at 5:38 to make it 3-1. Colton Gillies, recently claimed off waivers from Minnesota, and Savard picked up the assists.

“I’m really happy with the way we finished the game,” Richards said. “They had a couple opportunities, (Sanford) stood strong and we were rewarded with a goal and carried it home the rest of the way.”

NOTES: Wild captain Mikko Koivu missed his eighth straight game due to a shoulder injury. … Christensen, acquired from the Rangers last week, made his Minnesota debut, finishing with 11:21 of ice time and a minus-2 rating. … Savard became the 29th player to score for Columbus this season, a league high and a franchise record. … The Wild’s Nick Schultz was whistled for four minor penalties.

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The 25-year-old Prosser has six assists in 23 games for the Wild this season. The Wild are 14-7-2 with the rookie in the lineup, and coach Mike Yeo has praised his poise and ability to implement the new system that has been installed.

The team announced the deal on Monday.

Prosser grew up in Elk River, and also has spent time with the Houston Aeros in the AHL this season. Prosser doesn’t have to clear waivers to be sent up and down, and he is viewed as one of the promising young blue-liners in the organization.

The extension will kick in next season.

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Loui Eriksson scored for Dallas in the first round, but Matt Cullen got the Wild even in the second. Benn then beat Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom with a wrist shot to give Dallas the advantage, and Kari Lehtonen denied Jared Spurgeon to gain an extra point for Dallas.

The Stars are 11-0-4 in their last 15 home games against the Wild, who haven’t won in Dallas since a 3-2 overtime victory on March 21, 2003.

Kyle Brodziak scored and Backstrom stopped 25 shots for the Wild.

Mike Ribeiro notched a power-play goal and Lehtonen made 33 saves for the Stars.

Minnesota had won its previous two road games after going 11 games without an away victory.

The Wild went on the power play with 1:07 left in regulation when Sheldon Souray was whistled for hooking. The power play extended into the 5-minute overtime, but the Wild couldn’t capitalize.

Dallas had a power play opportunity in the final 55 seconds of the extra session when Cal Clutterbuck was called for tripping, but the Stars were unable to generate many chances.

Ribeiro took advantage of Dallas’ first power play of the night for the game’s initial goal with 4:48 to go in the second period.

Teammate Alex Goligoski’s shot from the point missed the net and bounced off the end boards. Minnesota’s Nick Schultz attempted to clear, but the puck wound up on the stick of Ribeiro, who buried his 11th goal of the season from the slot.

Minnesota drew even at 1 at 5:18 of the final period with the help of a turnover by Dallas’ Jake Dowell. Dowell’s backhand pass up the middle of the ice was intercepted by Brodziak, who skated in alone and lifted a shot over a sprawling Lehtonen for his 15th of the season.

Brodziak has at least a point in each of his last six games.

NOTES: Former Stars G Ed Belfour was recognized before the game for his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2011. Ex-teammates Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Modano, Brett Hull and Jere Lehtinen participated in the ceremony. All were members of the Stars’ Stanley Cup championship in 1999. Fans chanted “Eddie-Eddie” as highlights of Belfour’s career were shown on the video board. … Stars RW Michael Ryder played his 600th NHL game. … C Erik Christensen, acquired Friday in a trade with the New York Rangers, made his debut for the Wild, missing as Minnesota’s leadoff man in the SO. … Dallas LW Brenden Morrow (upper-body injury) missed his eighth game this season. The Stars’ captain has been the subject of trade rumors. … The Wild were without C Mikko Koivu (shoulder), D Clayton Stoner (lower-body), LW Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), LW Guillaume Latendresse (concussion) and RW Jarod Palmer (concussion).

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The 24-year-old Wellman has two goals and five assists in 14 games with the Wild this season. He has spent most of his time this year with the AHL affiliate in Houston, where he had 13 goals and 11 assists in 25 games.

Christensen should help the Wild’s depth at center. The 28-year-old has one goal and four assists in 20 games with the Rangers. His best season came with Pittsburgh in 2006-07, when he scored 18 goals.

The conditional draft choice the Wild will receive is in 2013.

The Wild also reassigned forward Chad Rau to Houston.

Minnesota announced the deal on Friday.

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Jean-Sebastian Giguere had 20 saves for Colorado, which has lost four straight and continued to struggle at home against Minnesota. The Wild are 10-1-2 in their last 13 visits to Denver. Backstrom is 9-1-2 in those games.

Zanon gave the Backstrom the only goal he needed on the Wild’s first shot of the game. After an icing by Colorado, Kyle Brodziak won the faceoff to Dany Heatley, who slid the puck to Zanon. Zanon moved to the center of the zone before sending a shot through traffic that beat Giguere with 13:56 left in the first period. It was Zanon’s second goal of the season.

Backstrom made it stand up, but Colorado didn’t make it easy in the third period. The Avalanche, desperate to score the tying goal, recorded 17 shots in the final frame. Ryan Wilson hit the post with 15 minutes left when Colorado was swarming in the Minnesota end.

Giguere went to the bench for an extra skater with 1:46 left. The Avalanche got their first power play 26 seconds later, but managed only two shots.

The game became physical and chippy in the second period. Colorado forward Cody McLeod fought Clayton Stoner moments after Stoner’s teammate Darroll Powe leveled David Van Der Gulik with a blindside hit. Later in the period, Avalanche forward Chuck Kobasew and Carson McMillan fought after McMillan hit Kobasew with a shot to the head.

The teams traded scoring chances in the period, but neither broke through. Colorado had 10 shots in the second and nearly scored on Jay McClement’s sliding chance in the final minute.

Minnesota came back, but the Wild were denied by Giguere’s great save. After making the initial stop on Brodziak, Giguere was knocked down when the Wild center was checked into him. Cal Clutterbuck sent the rebound toward the top of the net, but Giguere got a glove on the puck at the last moment and sent it over the crossbar.

NOTES: Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog had his four-game point streak snapped. … Colorado’s Milan Hejduk has 48 points in 62 career games against Minnesota. His 12 power-play goals are the most against the Wild. … Avalanche coach Joe Sacco has been stuck on 99 career wins for four games.

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Dany Heatley’s first two-goal game for Minnesota was wasted when the Wild squandered a 4-1 lead they held until the halfway mark of the third period. Brandon Yip’s first goal for Nashville since being picked up on waivers brought the Predators within two after a replay review reversed a dead-puck call on the ice.

Patric Hornqvist scored his team-leading 15th goal after taking three whacks at a loose puck at the edge of the net with David Legwand distracting goalie Josh Harding during a scrum in the crease. Fisher scored 21 seconds later.

Fisher connected again with 21 seconds remaining, flipping a seemingly harmless shot on net that slipped underneath Harding’s pads and sent a groan throughout the Xcel Energy Center crowd. Fans booed the Wild off the ice.

Matt Halischuk had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who outshot the Wild 12-7 in the final period.

Cal Clutterbuck added a goal in the second period for the Wild, Kyle Brodziak also scored and Heatley notched an assist for his second three-point game in the last three contests.

The NHL’s second-lowest scoring team broke loose for four goals against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, who had given up two or less in each of his last nine appearances. But he hung on long enough to win his 10th consecutive start.

Nashville is 13-2 since Christmas, with a 40-24 edge in even-strength scoring during that spurt. Rinne improved to 8-3-1 against the Wild in his career, despite giving up a goal 89 seconds into the second period and 16 seconds into the third. He stopped 21 shots.

Matt Cullen and Nick Johnson each had two assists for the Wild, who began the unofficial second half of the season in eighth place in the Western Conference playoff chase. The Predators were fifth.

The All-Star defenseman duo of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter is a good place to start when examining Nashville’s formula for success, an NHL-best run since Christmas that brought the Predators within three points of the league’s best record at the break while playing in the Central Division, arguably the NHL’s toughest. Weber and Suter have 15 goals between them this season. The Wild have eight from their entire blue line corps, including three by Marco Scandella, who is currently with their AHL affiliate.

Nashville’s defense looked as though it was still on vacation early in the game.

Johnson plucked the puck off the end boards with three Predators near him and sent a centering pass to the slot for Heatley, who shot high while Rinne ducked his head and scraped the inside of the crossbar. Later in the opening frame, Weber took a holding penalty, and Heatley scored a highlight-reel goal for the Wild’s 23rd-ranked power play.

Kevin Klein tried to glove a floating puck, couldn’t handle it and let Cullen swoop in and take control behind the goal line. Cullen sent a pass in front, and Heatley knocked it in with his stick at waist height, as if he were laying down a bunt in baseball, as he lost his balance and stumbled backward.

Heatley, who has a team-high 17 goals since coming to Minnesota in a summer trade with San Jose, has six points in his last three games.

Another boon for the Predators this season has been good health. Weber missed four games with a concussion earlier, but they don’t have anyone currently on injured reserve and none of their key players have been absent for more than a handful of games.

The Wild, meanwhile, played for the fifth straight time without captain Mikko Koivu (left shoulder) and two other top-six forwards: Guillaume Latendresse (concussion) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion). Latendresse is close to returning, but he has missed 33 of the last 35 games. Bouchard has been out for nine in a row and 11 games since mid-December.

NOTES: Wild D Marek Zidlicky was a healthy scratch for the third straight game. Due to make $4 million this season and next, Zidlicky has not scored in 34 games and is a minus-6. Zidlicky missed 13 games earlier this season because of a concussion. … The Predators matched their franchise record for most wins in a calendar month, finishing 11-2 in January. They were 11-5-1 in March 2010. … The Wild are 12-3-1 this season when Heatley scores. … The Predators had killed 19 of their previous 20 short-handed situations before Heatley’s goal. … The Wild fell to 16-1-3 when leading after two periods this season.

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The team believes that despite a rash of injuries, a long losing streak and inconsistent play, they can get to the postseason with a strong second half push.

An All-Star break is a little like a fresh start. You come back, forget the early failures and feel confident again.

“I think we had good momentum going into the break and now for us it’s going to be about a fresh start again,” said Wild forward Devin Setoguchi. “A lot of teams get their five day rest and we have to knock some rust off here.”

After this week, they have 16 games at home through March. They’re hoping if there was turning point in the season, it was the last home game, where there was a three-goal stretch in 59 seconds.

“We went down and I think coming back from Dallas with the three goals we scored in a minute there to come back from being down 2-1, we kind of became ourselves again from there,” said Cal Clutterbuck.

It looks a lot like previous years where every game the rest of the season has playoff implications. Win or at least get a point and you’re still in the race, or lose and start treading water. It’s pressure that the Wild can either fight or embrace.

In the “State of Hockey,” not getting to the playoffs is simply not acceptable among Wild fans.

“This is a fun time to be a hockey player. When you come to the rink and you get to play a game, and every day it matters,” said Wild coach Mike Yeo.

It’ll be a lot more fun for the Wild if it can push forward and into the postseason in Yeo’s first year.

But two of them were on the ice Monday, raising the possibility they could return in a week or so.

The Wild recalled Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer and Chad Rau from the Houston Aeros of the AHL, but left wing Guillaume Latendresse, who has played in only two games since Nov. 10 because of a concussion, participated in practice. Center Mikko Koivu, out for the last four games with a left shoulder injury, skated on his own before the workout.

Coach Mike Yeo said he believes Koivu is “much closer” to coming back than Latendresse and could accompany the team on the three-game road swing that starts Thursday at Colorado. Minnesota hosts Nashville on Tuesday.

Latendresse spoke with a big smile and a few deep breaths after his first practice in more than a month. He said he has been symptom-free — “no headaches,” he said — for the last 10 or 12 days.

“I feel good, I eat good, I sleep good,” he said. “So whatever. Whenever I get free and clear for contact, after that, why not? Even if I wait, if my head is fragile and is not ready I’m going to get hurt again, so why wait?”

The other top-six forward still on injured reserve, right wing Pierre-Marc Bouchard, remains out with a concussion. Yeo said there’s no update on his condition.

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Justin Falk scored his first NHL goal and Dany Heatley added another for the Wild, who halted an 11-game winless streak away home. They also moved into the eighth and final playoff spot in their final game before the All-Star break, leaping over Colorado.

T.J. Galiardi and Chuck Kobasew scored for the Avalanche.

On the winning goal, McMillan stripped defenseman Shane O’Brien of the puck and skated in alone on Jean-Sebastien Giguere, faking left before sending the puck through the goalie’s legs. McMillan was just recalled from Houston of the American Hockey League last week.

The Avalanche pulled Giguere with around a minute remaining, but couldn’t get anything past Backstrom.

Minnesota avoided tying the franchise record of 12 straight road losses, which was set during the 2003-04 season. The streak was snapped in a building the Wild have traditionally felt right at home in, going 9-1-2 in their last 12 games at Pepsi Center.

Colorado had the lone goal in the second period as Kobasew tapped in a puck that had rolled through the pads of Backstrom to tie the game at 2. It was Kobasew’s first goal against the Wild, a team he skated with for two seasons.

From there, things got a little chippy. Upset over a hit along the boards, Daniel Winnik approached Falk near the Wild goal. They both threw their gloves down and, as the theme from “Rocky” blared over the loud speakers, went at it, landing several punches. Both were sent to the penalty box for fighting.

Colorado scored early in the first period when Galiardi backhanded a shot over the glove of Backstrom.

The lead didn’t last long as the Wild came back with a fury, charged up by Devin Setoguchi, who was so irate over an interference call that he clomped into the box and slammed the door with authority. The echo reverberated around the arena.

Soon after, Falk tied the game when his shot from the top of the blue line beat a screened Giguere. It was Falk’s first NHL goal and came in the 54th game of his career.

With just under 5 minutes left in the first period, Kyle Brodziak was stonewalled by Giguere on a breakaway, only to chase the puck into the corner and feed it to a charging Heatley, who blasted it in for his 15th goal of the season.

Heatley beat a hot goaltender as Giguere has been splendid of late.

So much for the notion the 34-year-old has lost a step or two.

Giguere never envisioned seeing this much ice time when he signed with Colorado in the offseason. He was brought in to be a backup along with mentoring young netminder Semyon Varlamov. But Giguere has played so well recently that the goal has been his.

This was his fourth straight start.

Giguere already has more wins (12) than he had all last season with Toronto. He’s also among the league leaders in goals-against average and save percentage.

NOTES: Avs D Ryan Wilson returned to the ice after missing the last two games with a groin injury. D Stefan Elliott was a healthy scratch. …Wild D Marek Zidlicky didn’t dress for a second straight game. … The Wild won on the road for the first time since Dec. 10 in Phoenix.

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The Wild announced Monday that Koivu won’t participate in the annual exhibition, held this Sunday in Ottawa. Koivu hurt his left shoulder nine days ago after taking a hit during a game. The Wild captain was replaced on the All-Star roster by Edmonton Oilers right wing Jordan Eberle.

Wild right wing Nick Johnson was chosen Monday as an injury replacement in the rookie group taking part in the skills competition Saturday. Johnson has six goals and 10 assists in 44 games this season. He’s 10th in scoring among NHL rookies. Johnson will fill in for Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has also been out with a left shoulder injury.

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Dany Heatley added a goal and two assists, and Devin Setoguchi also scored for Minnesota (23-18-7), 3-11-4 over the past 18 games. Josh Harding made 22 saves.

Eric Nystrom and Philip Larsen scored for the Stars (24-21-2), who are 1-5-1 the last seven games. Kari Lehtonen, who was pulled after giving up four second-period goals, made 15 saves. Richard Bachman stopped six shots in the third period for the Stars.

Dallas led 2-1 after Larsen scored his first NHL goal at 11:03 of the second period. But Minnesota, which has struggled to score the past six weeks, quickly changed the momentum.

Clutterbuck tied it 2-2 when he picked up a loose puck in the Dallas zone and flipped it over a sprawling Lehtonen. Just 14 seconds later, Rau put the Wild ahead for good by scoring his first career goal in his first NHL game. Rau’s shot from the left side of the crease went off the stick of Dallas’ Brenden Morrow and into the net.

Brodziak finished off the flurry at 14:36 when he took a perfect pass from Heatley and snapped a shot into the open side of the net. The goal Brodziak’s second in 16 games.

The three goals in 59 seconds set a franchise record for the Wild, breaking the mark of three in 1:41, set in 2004. The four goals were also Minnesota’s most in a period in more than two years.

Heatley stretched the lead to 5-2 just 89 seconds into the third. Going in on a 2-on-1 break, Heatley passed the puck to Warren Peters before getting it back and beating Bachman. Heatley’s three-point game was his first with the Wild and his first since November 2010.

The scoring outburst was a welcome change for the Wild. While Minnesota had the best record in the NHL in early December, they have had offensive troubles lately. Over the previous 17 games, the Wild had managed only 28 goals (1.65 per game). Minnesota scored more than two in a game only three times in that stretch.

The lack of offense was especially glaring during Minnesota’s recent four-game road trip. The Wild scored just six goals in those four games, going 0-3-1 and sliding backward in the Western Conference standings.

The five goals for Minnesota tied a season high.

Dallas took a 1-0 lead late in the first period. Nystrom, traded by the Wild to the Stars on Oct. 12, tipped in a shot from Stephane Robidas at 18:38 of the first period.

Setoguchi tied it when his shot at 9:06 of the second sneaked over Lehtonen’s shoulder and just under the crossbar.

NOTES: Wild D Marek Zidlicky was a healthy scratch for the first time since being acquired by Minnesota before the 2008-09 season. … Minnesota C Matt Cullen was honored before the game for having recently played in his 1,000th NHL game. … Rau, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn., became the sixth Wild player this season to make his NHL debut. … Dallas, which lost Friday to Tampa Bay, is 0-7-1 in the second-half of back-to-backs this season. … The game was the finale of Hockey Day in Minnesota, an event featuring televised high school, college and NHL games. … On Sunday, the Wild will host their annual outdoor public practice at the Oval in suburban Roseville, Minn.

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) – This year’s Hockey Day Minnesota is unlike any other in the history of the six-year-old event.

First, the high school hockey portion of the event was moved indoors from its usual Lake Minnetonka Excelsior Bay location to Minnetonka High School’s Pagel Activity Center. Unusually warm weather prompted the move as the outdoor ice was compromised.

But the day has new meaning as athletes play to win and play with heart.

This year’s Hockey Day Minnesota is also dedicated to the family of Jack Jablonski, the Benilde-St. Margaret’s hockey player paralyzed in a game last month.

Jablonski suffered a paralyzing injury on Dec. 30 when he was checked from behind during a junior varsity game against Wayzata. He remained in serious but stable condition Tuesday at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

The Benilde St Margaret’s girls hockey team sold Jabs wrist bracelets at the tournament as a fundraiser. The group already sold out of 50,000 Jabs bracelets in a week, and now they’ve ordered 60,000 more.

The Minnesota Wild, FOX Sports North and Wells Fargo hosted an all-day telethon Saturday as part of Hockey Day Minnesota, with the goal of raising money for the Jack Jablonski Trust Fund. The telethon began at 9 a.m.

In addition, there was an online auction including lunch with Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo. The auction’s proceeds will go to the Jablonski family.

The support for Jablonski continues out at the Pond Hockey North American Championship 2012 tournament near Maynards on Lake Minnetonka. That’s where the Jack Jablonski Junior Bronze Hockey Tournament will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

What started as a small idea on Facebook has now grown to a large tournament with more than 20 teams, and organizers say all the money will go to the Jablonski family.

Jay Lundberg, the Pond Hockey North American Championship co-founder, said Sunday will be a great day, even for those who don’t play hockey.

“A lot of fundraising is going on for the family, there is a private party that will match up to the first $13,000,” he said.

Saturday night the Minnesota Wild will wrap up Hockey Day Minnesota with an 8 p.m. game. Players plan to wear stickers bearing Jablonski’s number (13) on their helmets. Jablonski bracelets will be sold at the game as well.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Playing on a line without Phil Kessel for the first time this season, the winger picked up three assists to help the Maple Leafs snap a three-game skid with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson decided to split up his top two scorers because of their play in the defensive end — and it may have sent a message to everyone in a struggling lineup.

“We’ve lost three games in a row and we needed a win tonight,” said Lupul. “No matter who was scoring the goals, getting the points, we did what we had to do to win tonight.”

Lupul has arguably been Toronto’s best performer this season and climbed into a tie for third in points with 51 — one ahead of Kessel.

“I’m not looking and chasing guys like Evgeni Malkin and the Sedin brothers,” said Lupul. “I’m just going to keep playing the same way I have been and hopefully the points keep coming.”

Kessel, Nazem Kadri, Joey Crabb and Mikhail Grabovski scored for Toronto, which avoided its first four-game losing streak since last season.

That was more than enough offense for Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson, whose shutout bid ended when Nick Johnson scored with under 3 minutes remaining.

“I’d rather have a shutout,” said Gustavsson, who finished with 20 saves. “That was kind of sloppy there, it shouldn’t happen. I guess 4-0 and two minutes left maybe I didn’t focus as much as I needed.”

The Wild, beset by injuries to captain Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Guillaume Latendresse, fell to 2-10-3 since Dec. 17 — when they sat atop the NHL standings.

“I’ve been coaching for quite a while and been part of a lot of games I didn’t like, and this one ranks right up there,” said Wild coach Mike Yeo.

Wilson’s line juggling paid immediate dividends for Toronto when Kadri opened the scoring just 50 seconds in. The rookie was a healthy scratch for Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Ottawa but looked good alongside Lupul and Tim Connolly.

The shuffle saw Kessel land with Tyler Bozak and Matthew Lombardi, although his team-leading 25th goal came on a power play with Lupul on the ice during the second period.

“Nothing’s written in stone,” said Lupul. “The lines could switch back in a couple games or we could keep rolling with these. It doesn’t really matter. Again, we just want to play a solid team game and today we played I thought one of our best.”

Like Wilson, Yeo has been juggling his lineup to try and coax more out one of the NHL’s lowest-scoring teams. He even had journeyman Warren Peters centering the top line between Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.

That unit generated the best early chance against Gustavsson, who calmly gloved a Heatley one-timer midway through the second period. He also kicked out a pad to deny the big winger in the third.

Notes: Backstrom, who had been sick, got his first start since Jan. 7 … Keith Aulie and Jay Rosehill sat out for Toronto … Minnesota’s record dropped to 0-9-2 in its last 11 road games … Former Wild GM Doug Risebrough, now a scout for the New York Rangers, took in the game … Wild players brought their fathers on the current road trip.

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Sean Couturier had a short-handed goal to lead a balanced scoring attack and the Flyers beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Braydon Coburn and Jakub Voracek also had goals and Jaromir Jagr had two assists for the Flyers, who got points from 12 players.

“Every line was cycling, every line was getting shots, it was a big win,” Hartnell said.

The Flyers began a stretch of 11 of 15 games at home after playing 20 of 29 on the road. They improved to 11-6-2 at the Wells Fargo Center.

“We wanted to come out hard,” Timonen said. “Our home record has not been where we want it. We wanted to play a full 60 minutes and show where our attitude is.”

Darroll Powe scored against his former team for Minnesota’s goal.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves to earn the win, a day after coach Peter Laviolette reiterated he’s the No. 1 goaltender.

Bryzgalov is having the worst season of his nine-year career while backup Sergei Bobrovsky has far better stats.

But Bryzgalov signed a $51 million, nine-year contract in the offseason and will be given every opportunity to prove his worth heading into the playoffs.

“The whole team was satisfied with the way we played,” Bryzgalov said. “It was a great team win. All four lines were rolling, playing physical and we were safe and sound in the defensive zone.”

The Flyers are 5-2 since losing the Winter Classic to the New York Rangers.

The Wild are 1-5-1 in their past seven games and 2-10-4 since winning seven in a row from Nov. 28 to Dec. 10.

“All it takes is one or two bad things to happen and we get away from what we are supposed to do,” center Kyle Brodziak said. “We’ve got to find a way to emotionally control ourselves better.”

Timonen gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal less than three minutes in. Timonen’s slap shot from just inside the blue line sailed past goaltender Josh Harding, who was screened by a teammate jostling with Wayne Simmonds in front of the net.

It stayed that way until midway through the second period when the teams scored three goals in a span of 2:20.

Couturier got things started for Philadelphia on a give-and-go with Matt Read during a two-on-one break. He nearly whiffed on his shot, but got enough of the puck for it to trickle into an open net. The 19-year-old rookie has a goal in five straight games.

“He’s never on the wrong side of the puck,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “His goals have been impressive.”

Powe cut it to 2-1 just 71 seconds later when his slap shot from outside the left faceoff circle hit defenseman Andrej Meszaros’ stick and skipped over Bryzgalov’s glove.

But the Flyers answered 69 seconds later. Coburn’s wrister from the blue line hit defenseman Nick Schultz and went in for a 3-1 lead.

Hartnell scored on a deflection to make it 4-1 a few minutes later. Hartnell has a team-high 20 goals.

Voracek extended the lead to 5-1 in the third.

“It’s ridiculous on our part,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “Just because bad things happen, we can’t play our game. We have to fix that.”

Notes: Read also had two assists. … This was the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Flyers are 8-3-2 against the Wild since they entered the league in 2000. … Claude Giroux recorded his 200th career point with an assist on Timonen’s goal. … Hartnell has six career 20-goal seasons. … Powe’s fourth goal was his first since Dec. 8. … Couturier has five goals and three assists in the past nine games. … The Wild are 3-14-5 when allowing three or more goals.

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Coach Mike Yeo said Monday that Koivu has an upper-body injury, but declined to specify. Koivu appeared to hurt his left shoulder in Saturday’s game at St. Louis. Yeo said Koivu’s status will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis, and the coach added that he’ll probably be out until after the All-Star break.

Koivu was recently picked to play in his first All-Star game. He says it’s too soon to tell whether he’ll have to miss it.

Yeo says Koivu is impossible to replace so he doesn’t want his players to try. He says he’s more concerned about others filling his leadership role than the loss of more offense.

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Pick up the pace a little.

Shattenkirk scored the only goal in the shootout, and Jaroslav Halak made three saves in the tiebreaker as the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Saturday night.

“When I go a little too slow, I tend to think about it too much and, that’s not good,” Shattenkirk said. “I went with a little speed, I saw it, and I went for it.”

St. Louis improved to an NHL-best 18-3-3 at home with its first shootout win of the season.

The Blues, who have won five of six, are 10-0-2 in their last 12 home games. They had been 0-5 in shootouts and had scored on just 1-of-17 attempts. Shattenkirk changed all that by scoring for the first time in three tries.

Halak did the rest, stopping Matt Cullen, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to break his 0-9 shootout record. Halak improved to 8-0-3 in his last 11 games and hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 22.

He took a laid-back approach to his pressure-packed sixth shootout of the season.

“I was 0-and-5 and I figured if we lost, I’d be 0-and-6, so it really doesn’t matter,” Halak said. “At least we’d be getting one point.”

Jamie Langenbrunner and T.J. Oshie failed to score for St. Louis, which improved to 20-5-6 under coach Ken Hitchcock.

The Blues became the last Western Conference team to gain a shootout victory.

“I think this is a big weight off of everybody’s shoulders,” Hitchcock said. “That’s as much joy as I’ve seen on the bench in a long time.”

David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo scored for St. Louis in a span of 2:35 in the second period to erase the Blues’ 1-0 deficit.

David McIntyre and Jared Spurgeon had goals for the Wild, 0-7-2 in their last nine road outings.

The Blues moved into a tie with Chicago for first place in the Central Division with 58 points — one fewer than Vancouver in the Western Conference race.

Spurgeon tied the game for the Wild 2-2 with his third goal of the season.

Pietrangelo broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal midway through the second period. He has two goals and seven assists in a career-high, six-game point streak.

Perron tied it at 1 with his third goal midway though the second period. He put in a rebound of a shot by Chris Stewart. Perron returned to the lineup on Dec. 3 after missing 97 games because of a concussion.

Minnesota goalie Josh Harding made a season-high 47 saves. Harding entered the game with a 6-2 career mark against St. Louis and turned in one of his finest efforts of the season, but fell to 8-5-3. He was pulled from Thursday’s 5-2 loss at Chicago after giving up four goals on 21 shots.

“I wanted to come out and give the team a boost,” Harding said. “We wanted to get back to the basics and come up with a good effort. I think we did that.”

McIntyre gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with his first NHL goal at 7:13 of the first period. McIntyre, recalled from Houston of the AHL on Monday, deflected in a shot from Cullen.

The game featured six fighting majors and a combined 52 hits. Minnesota’s Justin Falk and St. Louis’ David Backes got into a fight just 58 seconds in.

“Right from the drop of the puck, we weren’t going to be pushovers,” Falk said. “We went after them hard.”

Wild coach Mike Yeo was pleased with his team’s effort.

“We came into the building of a team that’s got the best (home) record in the NHL,” Yeo said. “And we had a chance to get two points. That, for me, is a really impressive effort from our guys.”

Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu sustained an undisclosed upper body injury on a hit by Vladimir Sobotka in the first period and didn’t return. Koivu appeared to injure a shoulder.

“We’ll wait until he gets evaluated and then see what happens next,” Yeo said.

NOTES: St. Louis LW Alex Steen missed his eighth game with concussion-like symptoms. … The Wild have been involved in 24 one-goal games. … Minnesota G Niklas Backstrom didn’t play due to the flu. … The Blues are 4-0-2 this month after winning just two games last January. … St. Louis failed to score in the first period for the first time in 11 home games.

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The 22-year-old Gillies, a first-round draft pick in 2007, had two assists and 10 penalty minutes in 37 games with Minnesota this season. He has three goals, seven assists and 30 penalty minutes in 89 career games with the Wild.

Last season, he had 11 goals and 15 assists in 64 games for Houston in the American Hockey League affiliate.

He played four seasons with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League and also scored a goal in seven games to help Canada win the gold medal in the 2008 world junior championships.

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The reliable veteran Bolland had two goals and an assist, and Chicago got two goals 23 seconds apart from rookie Jimmy Hayes and Victor Stalberg in the second period of a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

“Right now we’re rolling, and it’s a good thing,” said Bolland, who has four goals in three games after scoring just one in the previous 18. “Things are working in the offensive zone, and we’re getting quick outs (from the defensive zone).”

The play of the 6-foot-6 Hayes and fellow rookie Andrew Shaw, who also had a goal Thursday, has helped compensate for the loss of Patrick Sharp, who is out for several weeks because of an injury.

Chicago has won two straight on the heels of a four-game losing streak.

Hayes scored the tiebreaker on the power play in the second, planting himself in the crease and taking a nifty pass from Bolland, who held the puck behind the net.

“Bolland made a great play, and I buried it for him,” Hayes said.

“He’s got a big body and a quick stick,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said of Hayes. “With his hands he was able to make a nice fast play.”

Devin Setoguchi had the game’s first goal for Minnesota, and Kyle Brodziak added a rebound tally in the third period for the Wild.

Stalberg received a pass from Jonathan Toews, and his shot in the slot apparently deflected off goalie Josh Harding’s glove and into the net.

Bolland added another power-play goal off a rebound at 16:27, prompting Wild coach Mike Yeo to pull Harding and replace him with Matt Hackett. Bolland and Hayes also had assists in the second period.

Harding, who had been ill after Tuesday night’s win over San Jose, gave up the four goals on 21 shots. No. 1 goalie Niklas Backstrom was also ill and didn’t play.

“There’s no excuse, none whatsoever. Health had nothing to do with the way I played out there,” Harding said. “It was just one of those nights when I was pretty brutal.”

Chicago backup goalie Ray Emery made 21 saves and improved to 10-3-2.

Shaw tied it in the first with a shot from the left circle that beat a screened Harding at 11:33.

The Wild went up early when Setoguchi, who was a healthy scratch in Minnesota’s previous game Tuesday after he missed a team meeting, scored on a rebound after Emery had stopped a shot from between the circles by Marek Zidlicky.

Harding made a sprawling save on Marian Hossa after a nice cross-ice pass from Bolland, and stopped a fast-breaking Michael Frolik, preserving the tie in the opening period. He finished the first with 11 saves.

But the Wild couldn’t keep up the caliber of play they showed early in the opening period and are 2-9-3 in their last 14 games after a strong start.

“It was there for the first seven minutes and then we started to turn pucks over like crazy,” Yeo said. “Everything we needed to do to win this game we didn’t do.

“We have to play the right way and we have to have everybody. Tonight we didn’t even come close to playing the right way.”

NOTES: Shaw signed a three-year contract Jan. 3, and Hayes was recalled from Rockford of the AHL on Dec. 29. … Attendance on a snowy night was 21,490.

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The 28-year-old center was named Thursday to his first All-Star game. In his seventh season in the NHL, Koivu has nine goals and a team-high 24 assists. He was the Wild’s first-round draft choice in 2001.

The All-Star game is scheduled for Jan. 29, in Ottawa. The 54 players in the pool will be divided into two teams during a draft three days before. Six players were selected by fan voting, and Koivu was one of the 36 veterans picked by the league. Additionally, 12 rookies were chosen to participate.

Koivu is the seventh player in the Wild’s 11 seasons to make the All-Star game. Marian Gaborik was the only two-time participant.

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