Zach Parise

Craig Smith had two goals and two assists for Nashville, and the Predators finished the season strong with a 7-3 win over the playoff-bound Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.

The Minnesota Wild were reeling. The Phoenix Coyotes were rolling. Then the teams met Saturday night and everything turned around.

T.J. Oshie scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick and Ryan Miller made 27 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-1 rout over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Andy Greene scored from in close 2 minutes into overtime and the New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in Zach Parise's first game back in New Jersey against his former teammates.

Zach Parise broke a tie early in the third period, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots to break the franchise rookie victory record in the Minnesota Wild's 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Surging into and out of the Olympic break, the Minnesota Wild have created a significant cushion between them and their competitors for the two Western Conference wild-card playoff spots. That's not enough. With five days before they play next, this was still a game they were worried about -- and had to win.

Nino Niederreiter's goal with 2:44 left in overtime lifted the Minnesota Wild past the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Thursday night, and the tipped shot went between the legs of Roman Josi, who will play with Niederreiter next week for Switzerland in the Olympics.

Semyon Varlamov had 35 saves, John Mitchell had a goal and an assist and the Colorado Avalanche edged the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Thursday night.

One of the charms of the Olympics is seeing and hearing the family members of the athletes cheering from the seats and waving the national flags after traveling around the world to get there. Concerns about safety in Sochi have prompted some U.S. Olympians to tell their loved ones to stay home, however. Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, who will skate for Team USA next month, is one of them.

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are in about a month, and there will be some local talent on the team.