Gaborik Back to Form As Wild Top Avs

Minnesota Wild right winger Marian Gaborik, front left, of Slovakia, celebrates scoring a goal with center Wes Walz, front right, as Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj, back, of Slovakia, reacts in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski - AP)

DENVER -- The eyes of Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire lit up as he talked about the health of Marian Gaborik. "He's back," Lemaire said. "He's all the way back."

Gaborik scored two goals _ and teammate Mikko Koivu added another two _ to help the Wild to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

Gaborik has been hampered by a groin injury that forced him to miss 34 games earlier in the season. Even though this was his 12th game back, Gaborik hadn't shown his usual explosiveness _ until now.

"I am back," Gaborik said with a grin. "I feel good."

That's not exactly what Colorado goalie Peter Budaj wanted to hear. The two Slovakians are good friends and Budaj knows how dangerous Gaborik can be when he's fully healthy.

"He's a great player," said Budaj, who had 32 saves in the loss. "He's one of the league's leading scorers, and if the injury hadn't happened to him, he would be up there with (Pittsburgh's Sidney) Crosby and those guys. He is a great star."

Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored for Minnesota, and Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves for the Wild.

The Wild took the lead three times through the first two periods only to have the Avalanche counter.

"In the third period, we had our best period, but we just couldn't get one to tie it up," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said.

Gaborik's second goal of the game with 4:34 remaining was the winner. Koivu added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

"This was a huge win for us," said Gaborik, who also added an assist.

Although there's still plenty of time left, both teams looked at this as a game with significant playoff ramifications. Minnesota leads the Avalanche by six points for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.