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 Gaborik scored two third-period goals to help the Wild beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Thursday night for the first division title in the franchise's seven seasons.
Minnesota's Jacques Lemaire also earned his 500th career victory and became the 12th coach in NHL history to reach that mark.
Yes, it was quite a night at Xcel Energy Center, as Wild players gave their just-worn jerseys to contest winners after a loud celebration in the crowd to warm up the vocal chords for next week. Minnesota will be the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and have an extra home game for at least the first round.
Gaborik nearly had a third score, sandwiched between the two that counted, but that was waved off because of a whistle while the puck disappeared from plain sight beneath a scrum of bodies in the crease.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves for Calgary, which began the night in seventh place. The Flames still need one point to sew up a spot in the playoffs, and the bottom four slots could all change by the weekend.
They could end up facing the Wild, who probably would not prefer that. This was only their second win against Calgary in eight meetings, and despite a quiet performance in this game, All-Star Jarome Iginla has been unstoppable against Minnesota.
Plus, Kiprusoff (19-6-3) has by far the most victories against the Wild by any opposing goalie.
Daymond Langkow's power-play wrist shot gave the Flames the lead just 2:41 into the game, but Todd Fedoruk
-- one of Minnesota's tough guys and rarely an offensive threat -- answered in a man-advantage situation minutes later.
Pavol Demitra made a perfect pass from behind the end line, and Fedoruk deftly backhanded it past Kiprusoff as he darted across the slot.
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In the final minute of the opening frame, Dion Phaneuf knocked Stephane Veilleux flat with a blind-side hit that riled up the Wild. Seconds later, right after a stoppage of play, Burns confronted Phaneuf and dropped his gloves for a drawn-out fight that stretched across the entire width of the ice. Both players landed several punches, and Burns had his jersey ripped off.
Those major penalties carried into the second period, and another infraction
-- on Dustin Boyd for delay of game -- gave Minnesota a 4-on-3 that nearly netted the go-ahead goal. Calgary made a careless line change, and suddenly Kim Johnsson was on a rush up the right side all by himself.
He made a crossing pass to Gaborik, who didn't handle the puck cleanly as he tried to one-time it into the corner of the net.
Kiprusoff, that old Wild nemesis, suddenly appeared and knocked the puck away with his pad. That was Gaborik's only shot on goal in either of the first two periods.
Notes: Gaborik has 10 multi-goal games this season. This was his second straight. ... Iginla has 46 points in 43 career games against the Wild.
[Associated Press; By DAVE CAMPBELL]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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