Final Score: Minnesota 5, Vancouver 2

St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Antti Miettinen scored twice in the third period, as the Minnesota Wild took a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks in a Northwest Division battle at Xcel Energy Center.

Mikko Koivu had a goal and an assist, while Owen Nolan and Kyle Brodziak also lit the lamp for the Wild, who have won their past four games. Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots in the win.

"This is probably our best rival in the league and so far this year they had our number," said Minnesota center Eric Belanger. "We wanted to prove tonight that we could play with those guys and we were able to find a way to come back and win it here. That was a big win for us."

Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Kesler each had a goal, while Roberto Luongo was charged with all five goals on 19 shots for the Canucks, who have dropped three straight. Andrew Raycroft played the final 10:28 of the game and stopped all three shots he faced.

Burrows was fined $2,500 by the NHL on Wednesday for comments he made regarding referee Stephane Auger after Monday's 3-2 loss to Nashville. Burrows stated that the referee came to him before the game and said he was "going to get me back tonight" for making the referee look bad during a game on December 8. Burrows was later assessed two minor penalties and with four seconds left in the game received an unsportsmanlike call and a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

With the score tied in the third, Minnesota took a 3-2 lead on the power play as Koivu fired a pass from the right circle to the slot where Miettinen's one- timer found the back of the net just 1:08 in.

"You gotta find a way to kill penalties and that's two games in a row where we lost it on penalties," said Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. "It was unfortunate but that's the way it is."

Nolan gave his team an insurance goal at the 7:50 mark of the frame as he wristed a bouncing puck from the right circle that Luongo hit, but it trickled into the net.

Less than two minutes later, Miettinen's slap shot from the top of the right circle went through a screen and past Luongo for a 5-2 lead.

The Wild struck just 1:58 into the contest as Guillaume Latendresse threw a shot on net from the left side that hit off the skate then the stick of Brodziak and slid into the net.

Just 1:34 later, Minnesota took a 2-0 lead as Koivu skated down the other end on a 2-on-1 break with Andrew Brunette and snapped a wrister past Luongo for his 13th goal of the season.

Vancouver cut its deficit in half with 1:48 to play in the first on a power play goal as a shot from Mason Raymond was stopped by Backstrom, but he was unable to cover up the puck and Kesler dug it out and slipped it into the net.

The Canucks tied the game with 4:17 to play in the second as Sami Salo's one- timer from the high slot was tipped in by Burrows for his 20th goal of the season.

Game Notes

Minnesota begins a three-game road trip on Thursday in St. Louis...Vancouver hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday...Vancouver had won five straight, including all three this season, and eight of the last nine against Minnesota coming into the game.