Thursday night featured a matchup of two top-flight teams with 11 wins each, contenders that had split a pair of exciting one-goal affairs going into the game. The Minnesota Wild led the Northwest Division, though they had lost four of their last five games, while the Nashville Predators had won seven of eight to pull within two points of Central Division-leading Detroit. The two teams turned in another barnburner, with the Wild overcoming a 6-3 deficit with a pair of unanswered goals in the third period. The game went to a shootout, and Minnesota pulled out a 7-6 win when Brian Rolston iced it in the fourth shootout round. Rookie goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who improved to 3-1-0 in his first four NHL appearances, relieved Wild starter Manny Fernandez near the game's midpoint and stopped 24 of 25 shots to aid the come-from-behind victory. The win may help restore the confidence of the fast-starting but recently slumping Wild, particularly the team's scorers, who haven't tallied more than three goals in a game in the last five contests. A win like Thursday's could spark a good run, and if the Wild march to a division title after a last-place finish last season, could this be a victory that will be remembered as a key game? Or is it ridiculous to think Thursday's comeback effort could be so important in a hotly contested division in which 11 points separated the four teams that finished behind the first-place Calgary Flames in 2005-06?