Denver — Within minutes of Joe Sakic's game-winning goal, dozens of arena workers scurried to convert the hockey rink to a basketball court for an NBA game four hours later.
How fitting. The Colorado Avalanche have been dismantling the NHL's weakest teams all season long.
Colorado defenseman ROb Blake, back, dumps Minnesota center Stacy Roest as they fight for position. The Avalanche's overcame the Wild with a 4-3 victory Sunday in Denver.
Sakic reached the 100-point mark, scoring on a power play with 1:47 remaining to give the Avalanche a 4-3 comeback victory over Minnesota on Sunday.
Colorado, coming off an important victory over Detroit (97 points) on Saturday, clinched its seventh straight division title and pushed its NHL-leading point total to 105.
The Avalanche also improved to 26-3-2 against teams with a losing record and are 8-0 record against expansion teams Minnesota and Columbus.
"This weekend was huge," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "It was a big win against the Red Wings, and we knew it would be tough against the Wild. We answered the bell."
Milan Hejduk added two goals and an assist to help the Avalanche twice erase two-goal deficits. Special teams was the difference as Colorado converted three of six power plays, while Minnesota was 0-for-2.
Sakic's game-winner came on a pass from Hejduk while Minnesota's Ladislav Benysek was serving a two-minute minor for high sticking.
"You have to stay out of the box against them," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "They have too many quality players to put out on the power play. If only we would have stayed out of the box."
Lubomir Sekeras had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who lost their fourth straight.
Trailing 3-2 heading to the third, Colorado rallied behind its All-Star line of Sakic, Hejduk and Peter Forsberg.
Stars 5, Senators 1
Dallas Brett Hull scored three goals and Ed Belfour stopped 26 shots as Dallas extended its unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1). Sergei Zubov and Shaun Van Allen also scored for the Stars, who reached 40 victories for the fifth straight season. Hull recorded his first hat trick for Dallas, scoring late in the second period and adding two third-period goals to give him 33 for the season. Belfour came within 1:07 of a shutout before Marian Hossa scored for the Senators.
Canucks 5, Thrashers 3
Atlanta Mattias Ohlund's power-play goal with 11:19 left broke a tie as Vancouver snapped a seven-game winless streak. The Canucks, playing their first game since leading scorer Markus Naslund was lost for the season with a broken right leg, maintained fifth place in the Western Division standings. The Thrashers ended a five-period scoring drought with three goals in the second period.
Mighty Ducks 4, Blackhawks 1
Chicago Jeff Friesen scored his first goal as a Mighty Duck and set up another as Anaheim snapped a two-game losing streak. Jim Cummins, Marty McInnis and Samuel Pahlsson also scored for Anaheim, which got 37 saves from Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Friesen has one goal and seven assists in seven games since joining the Mighty Ducks as part of a March 5 trade that sent Teemu Selanne to San Jose. Steve Dubinsky scored for the Blackhawks, who have one win in their last five games.
Hurricanes 2, Islanders 1
Raleigh, N.C. Sami Kapanen and Sandis Ozolinsh scored second-period goals and Arturs Irbe stopped 19 of 20 shots as Carolina moved three points ahead of Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Oleg Kvasha scored for the Islanders, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Red Wings 6, Sharks 4
San Jose, Calif. Tomas Holmstrom had his first career hat trick and Martin Lapointe scored the game-winner with 2:37 remaining in the third period for Detroit. Niklas Lidstrom added an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left for Detroit. Todd Harvey and Mike Ricci scored third-period goals for the Sharks, who rallied from a 4-2 deficit but lost their third straight game. Red Wings center Sergi Federov was scratched because of a continuing breathing problem with his broken nose. Federov was injured Feb. 23 against St. Louis and has missed seven games. Teemu Selanne notched his first point as a Shark with an assist Owen Nolan's goal.
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