5/7/2003
8:00 p.m.
Xcel Energy Center
Game Six- Third Period 1 2 3 TOTAL
Minnesota Wild 0 2 3 5
Vancouver Canucks 0 0 1 1
Game Summary| Event Summary | Faceoff Comparison
TV - KMSP Fox 9
Radio - KCCO 950AM/Mix 104.1FM
Game Six Video Highlights (300k)
Game Six Video Highlights (56k)
Tuesday Jacques Lemaire Part I
Tuesday Jacques Lemaire Part II
Tuesday Jacques Lemaire Part III
Jason Marshall Previews Game Six
Andrew Brunette Pregame Interview
Sergei Zholtok Pregame Interview
Andrei Zyuzin Pregame Interview
Todd Bertuzzi Pregame Interview
Trent Klatt Pregame Interview
Jacques Lemaire Pregame Interview Part I
Jacques Lemaire Pregame Interview Part II
Marc Crawford Pregame Interview
Gov. Pawlenty Interview
Zholtok Intermission Interview
Post Game Interview
Post Game Interview
Post Game Interview
Audio Recap
Game Notes
Saint Paul, MN- The Minnesota Wild ripped the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 Wednesday night in Saint Paul to force a deciding Game Seven Thursday night in Vancouver. Credit Wild netminder Dwayne Roloson for the victory, he single-handedly kept Minnesota in the game stopping all 12 Canucks shots in the first period. Minnesota regrouped in the lockerroom and dominated the second period notching powerplay goals Andrew Brunette and Lubomir Sekeras to take a 2-0 through forty minutes. The Wild poured it on in the third period with Darby Hendrickson, Antti Laaksonen and Brunette tallying goals. Vancouver defenseman Ed Jovanovski tallied the lone Canucks in the third period. Vancouver netminder Dan Cloutier allowed five goals on 23 shots and took the loss. Roloson got the victory with 30 saves on 31 shots. With a victory on Thursday, the Wild look to become the first team in NHL history to come back from two 3-1 deficits in the same playoff year.
The Minnesota Wild started Dwayne Roloson (3-4, 2.77 GAA, .895 SV%) in net for the second consecutive game. The Vancouver Canucks started Dan Cloutier (7-5, 3.02 GAA, .881 SV%) in net for the 13 consecutive game. Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire sent almost the same lineup he used in Game Five out tonight, with the exception of Antti Laaksonen replacing an injured Pascal Dupuis. Vancouver Head Coach Marc Crawford replaced defenseman Sami Salo (flu) with Nolan Baumgartner, his first action of the series.
Only 32 seconds into the game Canucks winger Todd Bertuzzi and Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell traded punches after the whistle. A Lubomir Sekeras turnover created the first scoring chance of the game, as Markus Naslund intercepted Sekeras' pass and skated in on Roloson and backhanding a shot off the Wild netminder's right arm. Roloson had to be sharp early stopping wide open shots from the high slot by Matt Cooke and Marek Malik. After a Jeremy Stevenson shot went wide on one end the Canucks quickly rushed up ice and found Bertuzzi for a one-timer in the high slot. The Canucks winger got off a great shot on net through Willie Mitchell and Roloson made the save.
Shortly thereafter, Wild defenseman Filip Kuba and Canucks centerman Brendan Morrison went for roughing at 3:34. Minnesota earned its first powerplay when Mattias Ohlund was called for high-sticking Wes Walz as he drove to the net. The Wild powerplay was flat out horrible as the Canucks managed more shots shorthanded. Shots on goal through ten minutes were eight to one in favor of Vancouver.
Minnesota's first scoring chance came 12:39 into the period, Jeremy Stevenson fed Wes Walz skating hard to the net from the left circle. Walz took a quick wrist shot that Cloutier caught between his pads.
The Canucks got their first powerplay of the game at 14:30 as Walz was called for holding Ohlund. Vancouver managed only one shot on the powerplay.
The Wild seemed to get better offensively as the period went on and got a break in the last minute as Trent Klatt's backhanded shot on a rebound went just wide with a half empty net. Shots on goal through a scoreless twenty minutes were 12-4 in favor of the Canucks.
Two minutes into the second period Roloson made a clean glove save on an Ed Jovanovski slap shot from the right point through a Klatt screen.
On successive possessions in the Vancouver end the Wild surrounded the Canucks crease, eventually drawing a roughing penalty on Jarkko Ruutu at 3:31 for a hit on Matt Johnson. The Wild powerplay was anemic for 105 seconds until Wes Walz carried the puck over the blueline and dished to Marian Gaborik on the left slot. Gaborik took a slap shot and Walz redirected the shot off Cloutier's left pad. The rebound came to Andrew Brunette charging down the right slot and he fired a quick wrister into the net before Cloutier could go post to post for his fifth goal of the playoffs at 5:22.
Brunette's goal energized both clubs as the next four minutes of action were end to end full of bigs hit, mostly by Vancouver and good scoring chances, mostly by Minnesota. Canucks agitator Matt Cooke leveled Antti Laaksonen at center ice and then tried to take down Wild defenseman Brad Brown only to be sent on his backside. Minnesota had a 2-on-1 with Marian Gaborik and Wes Walz, but Cloutier was able to make two saves on Walz shots from the left slot.
The Wild continued to pick up the offensive pace as Gaborik got free down the right side and skated to the net only to have his stick lifted at the last second by Mattias Ohlund before he could get a shot on goal. On the same shift, Gaborik had a wrist shot through a Wes Walz screen gloved by Cloutier.
Veteran Vancouver forward Trevor Linden was called for high sticking Filip Kuba at 13:34. Once again though, it was the Canucks that generated the first scoring chance shorthanded and Roloson bailed out the Wild powerplay with a save on Artem Chubarov. Cloutier, obviously recovered fromm his shell-shocking in Game Five, made a brilliant save on a Filip Kuba sneaking down low in the right slot. The Wild still had time left and they made it count as Lubomir Sekeras blasted a slap shot through a Jeremy Stevenson screen at 15:31 to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. Marian Gaborik and Sergei Zholtok earned assists on the powerplay goal.
Seconds after Willie Mitchell sent Todd Bertuzzi into a heap behind the Wild goal, Richard Park carried the puck into the Vancouver zone and Murray Baron was called for interference running Jim Dowd into Cloutier at 16:25. This time the Wild were unable to score on the unable, nor did they give up a shorthanded opportunity.
At the end of two periods, the Wild led 2-0 and were being out shot 19-16 by the Canucks.
Six minutes into the third period neither team had established anything offensively with Minnesota content to ice the puck to thwart Vancouver pressure. The officials seemed content to let the two teams play early on with Mitchell getting away with a hook on Bertuzzi and Naslund throwing a two-handed slash on Mitchell with neither play warranting a whistle.
The Wild took a 3-0 lead on a blistering slap shot by Darby Hendrickson past a helpless Cloutier glove side at 6:57. Antti Laaksonen, scratched in the last two games, backhanded pass from the half boards on the right side to Hendrickson in hte left circle for the slap shot. The goal was Hendrickson's first of his playoff career on the single assist from Laaksonen.
Vancouver finally got on the scoreboard with a powerplay goal by Ed Jovanovski following a high-sticking penalty on Filio Kuba. The Canucks defenseman redirected a pass from Markus Naslund past Roloson stickside for the powerplay goal at 8:57. Naslund and Brendan Morrison earned assists on Jovanovski's record tieing fifth goal by a defenseman.
Minnesota answered back quickly 28 seconds later as Antti Laaksonen scored his first goal of the playoffs. Filip Kuba got the play started with a pass out of the defensive zone to Cliff Ronning along the left wing boards. He found Laaksonen cutting to the net and he deked Cloutier out of the net and flipped the puck into the empty net to give the Wild a 4-1 lead at 9:25.
Following an elbow by Jarkko Ruutu to the head of Andrei Zyuzin, the Wild tallied their third powerplay goal of the game. A bouncing puck somehow wound up on the stick of Cliff Ronning in the high slot all alone. The Canucks rushed to get on Ronning and the puck bounced off the skate of Vancouver defenseman Murray Barron directly to Andrew Brunette to the right of the net. With Cloutier out of the crease to play a potential shot by Ronning, Brunette easily flipped the puck into the net for the powerplay goal and a 5-1 lead at 10:37.
The rest of the way for the Wild was a formality filled with penalties and limited scoring chances for either side.