DENVER (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Wild managed to get a point in a building in which they never do well. Colorado Avalanche rookie Philippe Sauve managed to do well in a building in which he has little experience.
Sauve came on to start the third period and turned aside all 10 shots over the final 25 minutes as the Avalanche rallied for a 4-4 tie with the Wild.
Sauve, who replaced an ineffective David Aebischer, made his Pepsi Center debut on October 26 and lost to the Buffalo Sabres. But he was considerably better in this outing and outstanding in overtime, when he stopped all four shots by Minnesota.
"It is (tough)," Sauve said of coming on in relief. "You just have to get ready for that and sometimes it's easier as well, you're just riding the adrenaline. ... In my role this year, if that happens, you have to be ready in any given situation. It was fun out there."
Three of the shots in overtime came off the stick of Marian Gaborik, who ended his lengthy holdout Friday by signing a three-year contract. The All-Star winger logged 17 1/2 minutes but did not factor in the scoring.
"He's a good challenge 1-on-1," Sauve said of Gaborik. "But Marty (Skoula) and Derek (Morris), they made some big plays coming back and both actually got a stick on the puck both times, so it made it a lot harder on him. As soon as they touched it, the puck was coming in bouncing and it made it a lot easier on me, that's for sure."
"At the start, I felt pretty good," Gaborik said. "Hopefully, I'm going to pick it up in the next games. I feel pretty good skating-wise, but I will see next game. I'm excited to play again."
Slumping Antti Laaksonen scored twice, becoming the first member of the Wild to register a multi-goal game this season. But Minnesota squandered a pair of two-goal leads, including a 4-2 advantage with 12:34 left.
Morris' first goal of the season and Steve Konowalchuk's second of the game forced the extra session.
"I think it shows good perseverance and some good, quality guys in here that believe in our team and never give up," Konowalchuk said.
The late collapse prevented the Wild from recording their first win in nine regular-season games at the Pepsi Center. Colorado is 7-0-2-0 at home and 12-1-3-1 overall against Minnesota, which posted three road victories over the Avalanche in last season's Western Conference quarterfinals.
"I'll take the point," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I don't think we played well. We turned the puck over in our end for nothing. ... And I know that (Colorado) could have played better, too. But if you would have told me before tonight that if you could get a point, would you be happy, I'd say yes."
Colorado lost defenseman Adam Foote to a strained left hamstring in the second period.
Minnesota broke on top late in the first, scoring twice in the final 2:13 as Andrew Brunette set up one goal and scored the other.
Konowalchuk got Colorado back in it at 3:47 of the second period by redirecting a puck past goaltender Manny Fernandez. Rookie Cody McCormick tied the game 68 seconds later by scoring his first NHL goal off a scramble.
But the Wild tallied twice in less than a seven-minute span late in the second. Tied up in front, Christoph Brandner poked the puck past Aebischer for his third goal of the season. Laaksonen made it 4-2 by tipping Richard Park's shot between the goalie's pads for his third goal.
"I sure had a little luck on the first one," said Laaksonen, who had one goal in his first 12 games. "I tried to shoot a little higher and it went on the ice and luckily, it went between the legs. The second one was a good pass by Park, right by the net, and all I had to do was put a stick on the puck."
Aebischer gave up four goals on 14 shots and was pulled after 40 minutes.
Joe Sakic set up Morris' first goal of the season, finding the defenseman at the right point. Morris ripped a shot that hit the crossbar and deflected into the top right corner of the net.
The assist was the 814th of Sakic's career, tying Gilbert Perreault for 22nd place all-time. Sakic has nine goals and nine assists against Minnesota - the highest point total of any opposing player.
Konowalchuk knotted the contest with 8:05 left in regulation when he picked the pocket of defenseman Brad Bombardir. Konowalchuk swept across the crease and, with Fernandez sprawled in front of the net, tucked the puck inside the left goalpost.
Colorado's Alex Tanguay had his NHL season-high nine-game points streak snapped. Teammate Milan Hejduk had a seven-game streak stopped.
Fernandez made 32 saves for Minnesota, which failed to score a power-play goal for the first time in 10 games.
