Sakic, Hejduk Spark Avalanche Comeback, 4-3

Joe Sakic reached the 100-point mark, scoring on a power play with 1:47 remaining Sunday to give the Avalanche a 4-3 comeback victory over the Minnesota Wild at Denver.

Colorado clinched its seventh consecutive division title and pushed its NHL-leading point total to 105.

“This weekend was huge,” Colorado Coach Bob Hartley said. “. . .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 in clinching the Northwest Division and remain the No. 1 team in the Western Conference.

Lubomir Sekeras had a goal and an assist for the Wild, which lost its fourth in a row.

Trailing 3-2 heading to the third, Colorado rallied behind its all-star line of Sakic, Hejduk and Peter Forsberg.

Hejduk’s 40th goal of the season tied the score at 5:08 of the third. Forsberg set up the play by stealing the puck from Sekeras behind the net.

“We were very flat, especially in the first period, and the second period wasn’t much better,” Sakic said. “After you play the Detroit Red Wings [Saturday], coming right back the next day was tough for us.”

Minnesota led 2-0 after Sekeras scored 2:13 into the second period, but Colorado converted a five-on-three chance when Sakic set up Hejduk with a crossing pass at 4:28. The assist extended Sakic’s point streak to six games and gave the Avalanche a needed spark.

“We didn’t have it in the beginning, we’ve got to be honest,” Forsberg said. “I thought we did a good job hanging in there.”

Detroit 6, San Jose 4--Tomas Holmstrom had his first career hat trick and Martin Lapointe scored the game-winner with 2:37 remaining in the third period for the Red Wings at San Jose.

Brendan Shanahan scored a first-period goal and Niklas Lidstrom added an empty-net score with 15 seconds left for Detroit.

Teemu Selanne notched his first point as a Shark with an assist on a goal by Owen Nolan.

Dallas 5, Ottawa 1--Brett Hull scored three goals and Ed Belfour stopped 26 shots in a meeting of two of the league’s best teams at Dallas.

Jamie Langenbrunner, who played for the first time after being sidelined for four games because of an abdominal strain, assisted on Shaun Van Allen’s goal for Dallas.

Belfour came within 1:07 of a shutout before Marian Hossa scored for the Senators.

Vancouver 5, Atlanta 3--Mattias Ohlund’s power-play goal with 11:19 left broke a tie at Atlanta as the Canucks ended a seven-game winless streak.

Vancouver, playing for the first game since leading scorer Markus Naslund was sidelined for the season because of a broken right leg, maintained fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

Carolina 2, New York Islanders 1--Sami Kapanen and Sandis Ozolinsh scored second-period goals and Arturs Irbe stopped 19 of 20 shots at Raleigh, N.C., to help the Hurricanes move 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.

Around the League

Vancouver’s Markus Naslund underwent surgery on his broken right leg. Naslund, the Canucks’ captain and leading scorer, sustained the season-ending injury midway through the third period of Vancouver’s loss to Buffalo on Thursday. Naslund was thrown to the ice by Buffalo defenseman Rhett Warrener and fell awkwardly, his right leg twisting beneath him. A rod was inserted into Naslund’s right leg during the two-hour procedure. “It was a clean break and it was managed effectively and immediately,” physician Bill Regan said. “He should be absolutely fine and 100% recovered by next season’s training camp.”