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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild found out during the second intermission their spot in the playoffs was secure. Satisfaction came only after they won their way in with a strong finish. Mikko Koivu had the only score in the shootout after Ryan Suters goal tied the game with 65 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Wild beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night to clinch a wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoffs. "We wanted to get in the right way," said right wing Jason Pominville, who had two goals and an assist. "We stuck to it and found a way to score one late, and I think its a sign of a good team when you get in the right way against the best team in the NHL right now." Koivu, who had two assists, switched to his backhand to flip the puck past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the second round. When goalie Ilya Bryzgalov stopped Brad Marchands try with his pad to end it, he pumped his arms as he skated out of the crease to celebrate with his teammates. The Wild will be the seventh seed and face the division winner with the fewest points. "The message was, Lets not wait for anything. Lets not back our way into anything. Lets not come through the back door. Lets go charging through the front door," coach Mike Yeo said. "And what a better way to do it against a team like Boston." As play was about to begin for the third period, the overtime loss by ninth-place Phoenix at Columbus that guaranteed a place in the post-season for Minnesota was announced to the crowd and received with a hearty cheer. The Wild then went a step further by assuring themselves of the top wild-card slot by rallying for the win. They kept up the pressure in overtime after Suters delivery, outshooting the Bruins 6-2 in overtime. Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron and Loui Eriksson scored for the Bruins, who fell to 16-1-3 in their past 20 games. The Bruins, who clinched the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, held leading scorer Jarome Iginla out for the third time in the past four games because of a lower-body injury. Iginla became the biggest threat to the Wild during his days with then-division rival Calgary. His 67 points, including 37 goals, in 71 career games are the most by any Minnesota opponent. "Try to get some rest for certain guys and still try to play good hockey," Rask said. "Theres still something to play for. But its not always easy to find that 100 per cent perfect game in these situations." Late in the second period, Zdeno Chara wound up from the point on a power play. Eriksson and Gregory Campbell were parked just outside the crease, and the puck appeared to deflect first off Campbells stick before Eriksson poked it in for the lead with 3:42 left before the break. That didnt mean they were playing their best, though. "I felt we were a little sloppy tonight. We werent very sharp in our passing and our playmaking," coach Claude Julien said. "We didnt have everybody really playing that well. Some of our big players were just very average." Bryzgalov, the latest unlikely leader to emerge for the Wild, made 44 saves over the past two games to blank Pittsburgh and Winnipeg and put Minnesota on the brink of the post-season. His shutout streak ended at 145 minutes and 15 seconds, when Smith sent in an unassisted power-play goal for his 20th score this season. But Bryzgalov, who took over for Darcy Kuemper when the rookie suffered an upper-body injury last month, improved to 7-0-3 since arriving at the trade deadline. "The quicker you can clinch, the better it is," an impressed Julien said. Last season, the Wild limped to the No. 8 seed by winning their final game to finish 5-8-1 in April. This time, theyll have more momentum. "We played ourselves into the playoffs the way that you want to. It says a lot about the guys in here, and hopefully we can keep this thing going here," Suter said. NOTES: Wild goalie Josh Harding, the winner of the NHLs Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy last year for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport, was announced Tuesday as the teams repeat nominee for the award. Harding has been on injured reserve since Jan. 2, continuing to deal with multiple sclerosis, but returned to practice with the Wild last Wednesday. ... Bergeron has 10 goals in his past 11 games. Air Max Scontate Online . The 25-year-old McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, was eligible to play for either Ireland or Team GB when golf makes its return to the Olympics in Brazil for the first time since 1904. Air Max Saldi Italia . At 11:06 of the first period, Neal struck Marchand with his knee when Marchand was down on the ice. Marchand remained in the game. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand. http://www.airmaxscontateoutlet.it/ .C. - Blair Jones scored the eventual winner in the third period as the Abbotsford Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Oil Barons 3-2 in American Hockey League action on Friday. Air Max In Offerta . Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake Superior community. Air Max Scontate Outlet . His big 2-minute outburst in the fourth quarter Tuesday night is all that really mattered for the Dallas Mavericks.Norman, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of ranked foes tip off Big 12 Conference action against each other on Saturday afternoon, as No. 22 Baylor pays a visit to No. 22 Oklahoma. Baylor has quietly gone about its business this season, winning 11 of its first 12 games, including the last six in a row. The latest triumph came in a 92-51 rout of visiting Norfolk State this past Tuesday, running the Bears home record to a perfect 8-0. BU, which has a 62-54 loss to Illinois on a neutral court as its only blemish on the campaign, is 2-0 in true road games. Oklahoma has claimed victory in two straight and in nine of its 12 games this season overall. The Sooners took down visiting George Mason on New Years Eve, 61-43, to move to 6-0 at home. OUs three losses this season have come against quality opponents in Creighton (65-63), Wisconsin (69-56) and Washington (69-67). Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Baylor, 41-11, which includes a 20-4 mark in Norman. As expected, Baylor had little trouble disposing of Norfolk State the last time out. The Bears hit half of their total shots, which included an 8-of-19 showing from 3-point range, while holding the overmatched Spartans to 33.3 percent field goal efficiency and only 29.4 percent beyond the arc (5-of-17). A massive 46-31 rebounding advantage helped BUs cause, as did the fact that NSU committed 18 turnovers. Royce ONeal paced the Bears with 23 points, while Rico Gathers, Taurean Prince and Al Freeman tallied 13 points apiece. Gathers actually finished with a double-double as he also grabbed 11 rebounds. Kenny Chery and Lester Medford dished out seven assists apiece forr the winning side.dddddddddddd Prince leads the Bears in scoring with 11.5 ppg, while ONeal and Gathers are close behind at 10.8 and 10.1 ppg, respectively. Gathers spearheads the units effort on the glass with 10.5 ppg, the team as a whole checking in with a rebounding margin of +11.8. Baylor is scoring 70.6 ppg while allowing only 54.7 ppg. The teams stifling defensive effort permits foes only 37.4 percent success on field goal attempts, and a paltry 26.8 percent from 3-point land. Baylor is the only team in the country to hold all of its opponents to 66 points or fewer this season. Buddy Hield scored 17 points, the majority of which came in the opening half, as Oklahoma whipped George Mason earlier in the week by nearly 20 points. It wasnt the best offensive performance by the team, as the Sooners hit only 39.3 percent of their total shots, missing the mark on 11 of their 15 3-point tries along the way. A 13-7 edge in points from the foul line helped, as did a 47-38 advantage on the boards. Isaiah Cousins was the only other player to score in double figures for OU, as he tallied 11 points. Hield continues to pace the Sooners in netting 15.7 ppg, thanks to a near 40 percent effort from beyond the arc. Cousins (13.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg), TaShawn Thomas (10.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Ryan Spangler (10.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg) round out the double-digit scorers for an Oklahoma squad that produces 74 ppg while allowing only 59.4 ppg. The teams superb defensive effort results in foes shooting just 35.9 percent from the floor, 27.6 percent from downtown, and sees them turn the ball over an average of 14.7 times per outing. ' ' '