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Park place Wild force Game 7 with overtime victoryPosted: Monday April 21, 2003 10:44 PMUpdated: Tuesday April 22, 2003 12:59 PM
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- The Minnesota Wild sure aren't playing like a 3-year-old team making its postseason debut. Richard Park scored his second goal of the game 4:22 into overtime Monday night to give the Wild a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche and force a decisive Game 7. "We've accomplished something so far, and we don't want to let up," said Marian Gaborik, who put Minnesota ahead 2-0 midway through the third period. "We want to go back strong and try to play the best game we've ever played." The Wild have won two straight on the brink of elimination.
Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire, anxious to get his team to Colorado, cracked one-liners throughout his postgame news conference. After trailing 2-0 late in the third period, Colorado looked like the favorite for overtime after getting goals from Joe Sakic and Greg de Vries against Manny Fernandez in the final 3 1/2 minutes. But the Avalanche didn't even get a shot off in the extra period and now will play a Game 7 for the fifth straight series, dating to the Stanley Cup finals in 2001. "We had a great feeling going into overtime," coach Tony Granato said. "We had all the momentum."
"It says a lot about this team that we didn't give up," said Antti Laaksonen, who had an assist. Park's bad-angle wrist shot slid underneath Roy's glove to send the crowd of 19,350 -- another overflow sellout -- into a frenzy. "Everybody got chills," Gaborik said. Roy, who stopped 66 of 69 shots during Games 2-4, gave up three goals for the second straight game. He made 20 saves. Roy has played 57 overtime games in the postseason and his record in those contests fell to a still stellar 40-17. He matched Fernandez until 1:45 of the third period, when Minnesota went up 1-0 on Park's first goal. Park, who hit the post with shots in Games 2, 3 and 4, rushed in from the right circle and zinged a wrist shot high over Roy's left shoulder. The Wild have only a few forwards whose skating and shooting skills are on par with the Avs' best, but Gaborik -- the 21-year-old All-Star from Slovakia -- is one of them. He darted past de Vries to track down a pass from Laaksonen, swooped in and slammed a shot at Roy's right shoulder that ricocheted off him and trickled into the net with 7:54 left in regulation. The arena erupted with cheers, and it looked like the Wild were in control. But they weren't. The Avalanche, who outshot the Wild 11-4 in the third, threw a furious rally at Fernandez and forced overtime. Sakic, on an assist from Peter Forsberg, scored his fifth goal of the series with 3:26 remaining to pull Colorado within one. With 1:32 left, de Vries fired a shot through traffic that slid past Fernandez to tie it at 2. Fernandez, who relieved Dwayne Roloson in the first period of Game 4 and stopped 17 of 18 shots, shined in his second career playoff start by making 22 saves. In Game 5 in Denver, Fernandez made 28 saves and let in just two goals -- one with 27 seconds left. "We've had so much success this season that I just wanted to make sure we had a good shot at it," Fernandez said. Lemaire essentially conceded the series after the Wild lost 3-1 at home in Game 4, saying that his overmatched team would be happy with stealing one more victory. They've managed to win two more against the third-seeded Avalanche, who have gone to a Game 7 in seven of nine series. "We can't worry about what happened," Sakic said. "We've just got to be ready to play tomorrow."
Notes: Colorado D Adam Foote was scratched because of a sore foot.
He's questionable for Tuesday's game, Granato said. ... Gaborik's
three goals lead Minnesota in the series. ... Minnesota is 3-for-23
on the power play since Game 1. ... The crowd hounded Forsberg for
much of the game with a derisive chant.
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