NHL: Minnesota 3, Colorado 1

DENVER, April 27 (UPI) -- Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves Saturday, propelling the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over Colorado and their first playoff berth in five years.

Backstrom, who was pulled in Friday's 6-1 loss to Edmonton, responded with a standout performance against Colorado, turning aside all 15 shots he faced in the third period of the regular-season finale for both teams.

Devin Setoguchi netted the go-ahead goal in the second period while Zach Parise and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored for Minnesota, which clinched the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference.

The Wild and Columbus ended in a tie with 55 points, but Minnesota had the tiebreaker with more regulation and overtime wins.

The Wild will open the playoffs against the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks.

Ryan O'Reilly scored and Semyon Varlamov made 30 as the Avalanche ended the season with a 16-25-7 mark.