Matt Cooke

Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Cooke apologized Thursday for the knee-to-knee hit on Tyson Barrie that sidelined the Colorado Avalanche defenseman for at least a month, saying he did not intend to injure him.

The NHL cracked down hard on Matt Cooke, suspending the Minnesota Wild left wing for seven games Wednesday for his knee-to-knee hit that injured Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie.

Mikael Granlund's diving goal 5:08 into overtime gave the Minnesota Wild a 1-0 win over Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 on Monday night to pull within 2-1 in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Mikael Backlund scored two goals, including the winner 2:25 into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau found the perfect way to celebrate their new contract extensions. Thornton scored his second goal of the game with 1:30 remaining in overtime to lead the San Jose Sharks to their sixth straight win, 3-2 over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Ryan O'Reilly scored the only goal in the shootout, Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Saturday night.

Matt Cooke’s goal gave Minnesota the lead in the second period, and Josh Harding made 14 saves for the Wild in a 2-1 victory on Thursday night over the Winnipeg Jets, their newest rival in the recreated Central Division.

After 15 years in the NHL, there’s a part of Matt Cooke’s game that he’d like to lose: his reputation for the rough stuff.

With precious little space left under the salary cap, the Minnesota Wild were looking for another experienced, puck-moving defenseman. Keith Ballard was seeking a fresh start, and thus the match was made. The Wild signed Ballard to a two-year, $3 million contract on Friday and also re-signed defenseman Jared Spurgeon to a three-year, $8 million contract.