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The #6 Colorado Avalanche may have only beaten the #3 Wild three out of eight times in the regular season, but the four previous wins are the only ones that count. The Wild were sent home in six games as Colorado was able to roll the clock back 10 years with the play of Forsberg, Sakic, and Foote. Jose Theodore even looked like his old self in ’02 when he won the league MVP.The first three games may as well be lumped all into one sentence, 3-2 F/OT. Joe Sakic found Kurt Sauer in game 1 to give the Avalanche the lead. Ryan Smyth scored later in the second on a power play to build the lead to two goals. But Minnesota fought back in the third period getting two quick goals only three minutes apart from Mikko Koivu and Todd Fedoruk. Colorado threw 12 shots at the net, but all were stopped by Backstrom. In overtime, Joe Sakic scored the game winner 11:11 into the period, giving Colorado a 3-2 win and 1-0 series lead.
Just like game 1, Colorado scored first again in game 2. Peter Forsberg scored his first postseason goal with three minutes to go in the first period. He then took a penalty at the end of the second period, and Pavol Demitra made him pay, scoring on the power play early in the third. Mikko Koivu scored what looked to be the game winner with only two minutes left, but Milan Hejduk scored with 44 seconds to go to send the game to overtime. Just 1:14 into the period, Keith Carney took a slapshot from along the boards that found the back of the net. The Wild ties the series up 1-1.
Back in Colorado for game 3, the Avalanche would get on the board first for the third straight game. Andrew Brunette found the back of the net from Joe Sakic 15:19 into the first. Much like game2, the Wild waited until he third period before taking the lead 2-1 on goals from Mikko Koivu and Brian Rolston (shorthanded). Joe Sakic continued to be the best Ave and scored with five minutes to go to tie the game at 2-2. In overtime, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 11:58 in to give the Wild another 3-2 win and a 2-1 series lead.
In game 4, Colorado burst out for a 4 goal victory, finally breaking the string of 3-2 games. The Wild forgot to show up in the first period as Brunette, Wolski, and Arnason scored to give Colorado a 3-0 lead. Adding two more goals in the third, the Avalanche had the game secure, but then the fireworks began. By fireworks, I mean penalties- lots of them. The Wild took 10 penalties in the second period totaling 28 PIM, to Colorado’s 8. The Wild took even more in the third, 13 penalties totaling 69 minutes. Although Mikko Koivu scored shorthanded, the Wild were totally out of it, 5-1 Aves.
Returning to Minnesota for game 5, the final score of 3-2 rose again as well. Colorado decided to score first for, well, the umpteenth time (every time) this series. Andrew Brunette scored his 3rd goal of the postseason on the power play, but Pierre Marc Bouchard responded with a power play goal of his own to tie it. With only 12 total PIM in the game, the score remained 1-1 until Wolski and Stastny score 79 seconds apart in the third period. Brian Rolston scored a meaningless goal with 3 seconds left. Colorado would head home with a chance to close out the series.
Shorthanded in the first period of game 6, Joe Sakic found Ben Guite 8:02 into the game for the first goal. The Wild waited until 36 seconds into the second period before Aaron Voros scored to tie the game. Minnesota would need the next goal in the game to have a shot at tying the series up, but Ryan Smyth had other ideas. Twelve minutes after the Wild goal, he scored from David Jones and Tyler Arnason to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. The third period was scoreless as Backstrom and Theodore (top two stars of the game) played excellent. The Avalanche held on to win it by the final score of 2-1, advancing into the second round.
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