It definitely was a Wild weekend for Minnesota. It started out with the Friday Night Fight Club, when they took on the Vancouver Canucks in a battle royale that ended in a 4-0 shutout for Niklas Backstrom. It ended with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

The Wild-Canucks game started out with Minnesota pressuring Vancouver from the drop of the puck, and for most of the first period, the Wild were the aggressor. The first points of the game went to Minnesota when Pierre-Marc Bouchard, playing the point on the power play, slapped a shot past Roberto Luongo for his first goal in 19 games.

The second goal of the night was Minnesota’s as well and it came just mere minutes after the first one when Brian Rolston made a pass to Mikko Koivu, who then kicked it from his skate to his stick for goal number two.

Vancouver had some great chances to score but just could not put the puck past Backstrom, who got his fourth shutout of the season with 28 saves. “I feel okay out there, but it goes with the team, when you know the team is playing well, then it’s easier for everybody”

In the middle frame, the Wild, who had been sharp from the start, added a third goal when Brent Burns’ slap shot zipped by Luongo on the power play. The fourth goal and the nail in Roberto’s coffin came near the end of the second period with a wrist shot from Todd Fedoruk, who had to turn on the jets to catch up to Marian Gaborik, who was flying down the right side. “I was gassed at the end of that. The knee braces were on backward, that’s for sure. I thought he was going to shoot. I was surprised when he passed it. They’re told to shoot when they’re on a two-on-one with me,” Fedoruk added.

The fourth rank goalie in the NHL wasn’t entirely at fault. "The guys in front of him have to play better in every area," said Markus Naslund. "He's been there for us all year, and if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be where we are. It's up to us to play hard for him."

There was no scoring in the third period, but there was a Wild record-breaking, penalty filled Friday Fight Fest. It all started when Bouchard was provoked by what he thought was a spearing attempt from Alex Burrows. That’s when the fireworks began and it started to look like "old-time hockey."

That’s when everyone started pairing up and the ice was littered with gloves, helmets and sticks. When it was all over, the Minnesota Wild ended up with a franchise-high 64 penalty minutes and the Canuck with 49. I asked Jacques Lemaire after the game if he ever thought of putting out the line of Boogaard, Simon and Fedoruk at the end of the game to help clean it up. He jokingly replied with “Who would play center? And how big is the puck?”

After a day of rest, the Wild took on the Avalanche with the Northwest Division lead on the line and won 3-2. Peter Forsberg didn't play due to a groin injury, so it was up to Joe Sakic to lead the way for the Avalanche.

The Wild jumped out to a two goal first period lead and looked like they were on their way to the number three spot in the Western Conference. But the Avalanche came on strong in the second period and tied up the game with two goals of their own to set up an interesting third period.

The third started out with both teams playing well on defense and not wanting to make the mistake to lose the game for their team. Both sides had chances near the end to win the game, but no one could put the puck in the net. The game-winner was in OT when Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik had a two-on-one.

Gaborik passed the puck to Demitra, who then returned the favor by passing it back and Gaborik slammed it home for his 40th goal of the season. "The puck kind of bounced on Demitra's feet there and was rolling," Gaborik said. "I just tried to stop in front, and he handled the puck great and fed in front where I had an open net."

Minnesota closes out its four-game home stand April 3 against Calgary in the season finale and one that may wind up being for first place in the division. This game might have lots of fireworks as well, so stick around.