Wild Win West
Archived from 2002-03 season.
Pascal Dupuis scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference finals.
The Canucks grabbed a 2-0 lead midway through the second period, but the Wild responded by scoring four unanswered goals.
"We were down on the scoreboard but we weren't down in here," Minnesota's Darby Hendrickson said. "We didn't have the word quit in us."
The Wild are the first team in NHL history to rally from three games to one deficits twice in the same playoff year.
"We're going to enjoy this one tonight, no team has ever done it," said Wes Walz, who tied it 2-2 at 8:05 of the third period. "We normally keep our emotions in check but in this case we're going to let them go crazy -- for at least a few hours anyway."
"We played our best game tonight of this series and they found a way to win," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "You have to compliment them for finding a way to win and wish them well as they move forward."
The sixth-seeded Wild will face No. 7 Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the right to play for the Stanley Cup. The series begins Saturday in Minnesota.
"Are you kidding," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said when asked if could have ever imagined getting this far, this soon. "Never in a million years."
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