Minnesota Sports Roundup: Two goals from Koivu helps Minnesota beat Colorado

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Mikko Koivu lit the lamp twice to power Minnesota past Colorado 5-3. Koivu scored in the second period and added an empty-netter late in the third as the Wild won their third game in the past four. Jonas Brodin recorded his first career NHL goal in a three-goal second period for the Wild. Ryan Suter had three assists. P.A. Parenteau scored two goals for the Avs. Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots for Minnesota and Semyon Varlamov denied 35 for Colorado. The same two teams meet in Denver on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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The NHL is moving forward with its realignment plan. The league's Board of Governors has voted in favor of the new four-division format, which will go into effect next season. The Wild will move into a division along with Colorado, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Winnipeg and Nashville. The Players' Association has already signed off on the plan, which will have 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 in the West. The top three teams in each division will make the playoffs along with four wild card teams based on record. That will make it possible for one division to have five playoff teams and the other just three. The union has agreed to play under the new alignment for at least three seasons.

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Brandon Paul's jumper at the buzzer lifted the Illini to a 51-49 win over Minnesota in the first round of a battle between sub .500 teams in the Big Ten with NCAA Tournament aspirations. On the possession prior to the Paul jumper, Illinois (22-11) collected four offensive rebounds before D.J. Richardson knocked down a right wing 3-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with 48 seconds remaining. Austin Hollins stepped out of bounds on the Gophers' ensuing touch and Paul let the clock run down before pulling up for the game-winning left elbow jumper for his 25th point. Austin Hollins netted 16 points, while Andre Hollins finished with 13 points for the Gophers (20-12), who have dropped three in a row and seven of their last 10 contests.

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The Rockets will try and avoid a fifth loss in the last six matchups with Minnesota on Friday night when they host the Timberwolves. The Rockets, currently seventh in the Western Conference, are in the middle of a seven game home stretch where they've won seven of their last eight. The Wolves on the other hand have dropped 14 of 15 on the road and is 6-25 there overall. However, Minnesota beat the Rockets 92-79 at the Target Center on January 19th. Plus, in their last trip to Houston back on February 17, 2012 the T-Wolves won 111-98. Minnesota has averaged 114.3 points in three consecutive wins at Houston. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

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Chris Parmelee hit his first Grapefruit League home run but the Twins lose 7-3 to the Red Sox before 8,195 at Hammond Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Twins right-handed pitcher Mike Pelfrey turned in his worst outing of the spring as he allowed six hits, five runs and three walks to go along with a pair of strikouts. In four games this spring against the Red Sox the Twins have been outscored 21-11.

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The Minnesota Twins optioned right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson and left-handed pitcher Caleb Thielbar to Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. Additionally, they reassigned right-handed pitcher Anthony Slama, catcher Kyle Knudson and infielder James Beresford to minor league camp. The Twins roster now stands at 51 players.

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The Vikings reportedly signed a quarterback on Thursday as they land former Chiefs QB Matt Cassell. ESPN is reporting Cassell signed a one-year, $4 million deal to back up starting quarterback Christian Ponder. Cassell was cut by the Chiefs on Thursday to make room for the recently acquired Alex Smith. The Vikings are also rumored to be wooing Green Bay free agent wide receiver Greg Jennings. The Vikings did sign two unrestricted free agents on Thursday as they inked center Joe Berger along with defensive back Jamarca Sanford.

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