(Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to close out their Western Conference quarterfinal series on home ice tonight, when they battle the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center.

The sixth-seeded Avalanche trailed two games to one in this series, but have notched two straight victories to take a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven set.

Minnesota, the Northwest Division champion and the third seed in the West, needs to win the final two games of this series to advance to the conference semifinals.

After posting a 5-1 home victory in Game 4 on Tuesday, the Avalanche eked out a 3-2 decision Thursday in St. Paul. Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny scored goals 1:19 apart in the third period, as Colorado edged Minnesota and grabbed a lead in the series.

Andrew Brunette also scored, while Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk added two assists apiece for the Avalanche.

Jose Theodore made 38 saves, helping Colorado win despite being out-shot 40-17. Theodore has been excellent in the series, posting a 2.04 goals against average and .933 save percentage.

Brian Rolston and Pierre-Marc Bouchard had the tallies for Minnesota, while Niklas Backstrom allowed all three goals in the loss.

The Wild are still waiting for star right winger Marian Gaborik to break out of his playoff scoring slump. Gaborik, who led Minnesota in goals (42) and points (83) this year, has 19 shots on goal in the series, but has yet to record a single point.

Despite the gap in the conference seeding between the Wild and Avs, Colorado actually finished just three points behind Minnesota for second place in the always competitive Northwest Division.

Overall, the Wild went 5-2-1 versus the Avalanche during the 2007-08 regular season.

This is the second-ever playoff series between these clubs. Minnesota won the only other postseason meeting, shocking the Avs in the opening round of the 2003 postseason.

The Wild are in the playoffs for the third straight year and they are also in as a division champion for the first-time ever. Colorado is back after a one- year absence last season that ended a string of 11 straight postseason appearances.

Colorado was one of the best home teams in the NHL this season, as it posted a 27-12-2 record at the Pepsi Center. The Wild were just 19-17-5 away from Minnesota.

If necessary, this series will head back to Minnesota for Game 7 on Tuesday night.