North West Sports Beat

With one day left in the regular season for the Western Conference, the final two playoff berths have yet to be claimed. The Minnesota Wild failed to clinch their spot on Friday and will take one last crack at it when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. The Avalanche are sitting at the bottom of the West but fought through a 5-4 shootout win in Phoenix on Friday and have played well of late.

The Wild are fighting the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets for the final two spots in the West. Minnesota and Columbus are tied with 53 points, one behind Detroit. The Wild hold the tiebreaker over the Blue Jackets and would get the No. 8 seed if all three teams win on Saturday. Colorado has made things tough on playoff teams over the last two weeks, knocking off Anaheim, Vancouver and St. Louis while forcing Columbus to overtime on April 15.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE WILD (25-19-3): Minnesota has been blown out in two of its last three games, including Friday's stunning 6-1 home loss to Edmonton. The Wild had scratched their way to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday but were outscored 10-2 in the two previous games by San Jose and Calgary. Niklas Backstrom appeared to solve things in the win over the Kings but surrendered three goals on just five shots before being pulled on Friday. Minnesota allowed three goals in each of the first two periods and let its frustrations boil over in the third as both Mike Rupp and Zenon Konopka were called for roughing and 10-minute misconduct penalties.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (16-24-7): Colorado has been fighting for draft position over the last month but has been surprisingly scrappy against tough competition of late. The Avalanche totaled 13 goals in those wins over Anaheim, Vancouver and St. Louis, and proved they have not yet given up by putting up three first-period goals in Friday’s victory at Phoenix. “It’s a good test of character for these guys, and they responded well,” Colorado coach Joe Sacco said. The Avalanche have gone 1-3-0 in four meetings with the Wild in 2013, including a 6-4 loss at home on March 16. Colorado allowed four first-period goals in that meeting as Devin Setoguchi tallied twice and set up a score for Minnesota.

OVERTIME

1. Wild RW Jason Pominville (upper body) sat out Friday and is day-to-day after getting elbowed in the head on Tuesday.

2. Avalanche D Erik Johnson (hand) has missed six straight games but could return for the finale Saturday.

3. Backstrom owns a 23-5-3 record in 31 career games against Colorado.

PREDICTION: Wild 2, Avalanche 1