NHL: Columbus 3, Minnesota 2 (SO)

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 14 (UPI) -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 39 saves through overtime and recorded two more in a shootout Saturday, carrying Columbus to a crucial 3-2 win over Minnesota.

Bobrovsky yielded a first-period goal to Pierre-Marc Bouchard, but then shut the door on Minnesota until Jason Pominville scored the equalizer with 3:15 left in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime, the game moved to a shootout, when Bobrovsky made saves on Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu while Mark Letestu and Cam Atkinson beat the Wild's Niklas Backstrom for the win.

Vinny Prospal and Fedor Tyutin scored in regulation for Columbus, which moved into a three-way tie with the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings with 45 points in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Dallas currently holds the tiebreaker with two more wins.

Backstrom made 20 saves for the seventh-seeded Wild, who dropped their third straight and sixth in seven games overall.