By Compiled from Times wires
Published May 9, 2003
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Minnesota used two improbable comebacks to set up the unlikeliest of Western Conference finals.
Darby Hendrickson scored with 5:12 left as the Wild rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 4-2 in Game 7 Thursday night.
This rally completed the Wild's second comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to win in these playoffs. No team had done that twice in the same postseason, but the 3-year-old Wild have made history in its first trip to the postseason.
The sixth-seeded Wild hosts Game 1 of the West final against No. 7 Anaheim on Saturday.
In the first round, Minnesota stormed back to win the final three games against Colorado. In each series, the Wild won two of the last three - including Game 7 - on the road.
Vancouver's loss ruined the chance for the first all-Canada Stanley Cup final since Calgary beat Montreal in 1989. The Senators, who had a league-best 113 points this season, play the Devils in the East final.
Hendrickson took a drop pass just inside the Vancouver blue line and wired a long, low slap shot under the glove of Dan Cloutier.
Wes Walz tied it 2-2 8:05 into the third period.
The Wild is 6-0 when facing elimination.
In the final three victories against Vancouver, normally defensive-minded Minnesota outscored Vancouver 16-5.
Pascal Dupuis, who missed the previous two games with an ankle injury, made it 4-2 with 2:33 left. He connected on a power play after Todd Bertuzzi was sent off for pushing Minnesota defenseman Andrei Zyuzin into goalie Dwayne Roloson.
Mattias Ohlund and Bertuzzi scored 61 seconds apart in the second period to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead. But the Wild, as it has throughout its playoff run, took advantage of a break to get back in the game.
Marek Malik's clearing attempt hit Sergei Zholtok's stick behind the Vancouver net, and the puck bounced over the net. Dupuis batted it out of the air on the other side for his first goal of the game.
For the third consecutive game, the Canucks blitzed Minnesota, outshooting the it 12-6, and delivering several big body checks in the first period. But also for the third consecutive game, the Canucks couldn't put an early goal past Roloson.
Ohlund finally scored with a low slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat a screened Dwayne Roloson 11:29 into the second.
Bertuzzi scored his only goal of the second round on a breakaway during the next shift.
Henrik Sedin's long pass bounced off a Wild stick at center ice and straight to Bertuzzi behind the Minnesota defense.
Bertuzzi, who had 46 regular-season goals, skated in and roofed a backhand over Roloson's glove for his second goal in 14 playoff games.
But Dupuis took advantage of the first break, and Walz tied it on another one in the third.
Antti Laaksonen's centering pass bounced off a skate in the crease and straight to Walz, who caught Cloutier out of position playing the pass.
Cloutier finished with 12 saves.
Minnesota received the only two power plays in the game that was played just one day after the Wild beat the Canucks 5-1 at home in Game 6.
