Canucks rally to stun Wild
Canadian Press
4/26/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - When it looked the darkest Trent Klatt could still see the light.
Even when the Vancouver Canucks trailed 3-1 late in the third period Klatt said the team never lost its confidence. "We talked on the bench when we got down 3-1 that the game's not over," said Klatt, who scored a power-play goal 3:42 into overtime to give Vancouver a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild Friday night for an exciting opening to their Western Conference semifinal. "There's no sense panicking. There's no sense getting frustrated. We had to stay together, stay on the same page and see if we can pick it up a little."
It was a special goal for the Klatt, a native of Robbinsdale, Minn. He deflected a shot by Daniel Sedin into the net. The Canucks went on the power play after Wild defenceman Lubomir Sekeras was called for high sticking.
"I'm still kind of in shock," said Klatt.
"It's awfully exciting, it's awesome. I'm having as much fun as I've ever had in hockey."
Matt Cooke forced the overtime, scoring for Vancouver off a scramble in front of the net with just 1.2 seconds left in the third period as the Canucks came back from a 3-1 deficit.
Todd Bertuzzi won the draw with just 8.7 seconds left. Goaltender Manny Fernandez managed to stop the first shot, but the Canucks swarmed like angry bees. Klatt, flat on his back, had a couple whacks at the puck before Cooke got a stick on it and pushed it into the net, bringing a thunderous roar from the crowd.
It was a frustrating night for Wes Walz and the Wild. Minnesota looked to have the game in hand after Walz had scored two third-period goals for a 3-1 lead.
"We have to regroup and make sure we have a good practice (Saturday) and make sure we have a good mindset for Game 2," said Walz.
Vancouver's Markus Naslund started the come back when he scored on a breakaway midway through the third period. He scooped up the puck after Walz and Marian Gaborik, who assisted on both of Gaborik's goals, collided.
"It's frustrating" Walz said shaking his head over the play.
"We played decent but in the big picture we have to limit our mistakes if we're going to beat a team like the Vancouver Canucks."
The Canucks outshot the Wild 39-21.
Defenceman Ed Jovanovski also scored for Vancouver, which played its first overtime game of the playoffs.
Sergei Zholtok got the other goal for the Wild who played their third consecutive overtime game of the playoffs.
The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series resumes Sunday in Vancouver (10 p.m. EST, CBC).
The Wild played the same kind of game they used to upset the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs. They were patient without the puck then pounced like a hungry cat on a mouse whenever Vancouver made a mistake.
The Canucks had two goals called back.
Late in first they thought they had tied the game but referee Marc Joannette ruled the puck had been directed in by a high stick. Midway through the second Brendan Morrison raised his arms to celebrate but instant replays showed the puck had rolled along the goal-line behind Manny Fernandez but never fully crossed into the net.
The towel-waving sellout crowd of 18,514 began chanting "Go Canucks go" even before joining Mark Donnelly in signing O'Canada. The noise continued through the first half of the opening period when the Canucks buzzed the net and outshot Minnesota 7-1.
Minnesota soon began to slow the pace down, silencing the crowd and frustrating the Canucks. Fernandez forced whistles, the Wild forwards clogged up the passing lanes and the Canucks were held without a shot for the final 11 minutes of the period.
On their first power play of the night the Canucks couldn't manage a shot on net.
The second period turned into a shooting gallery, with Vancouver outshooting the Wild 16-5, but Fernandez slammed the door. The Wild didn't muster much offence but still had their chances, twice ringing shots off the posts.
Notes - The last time the Canucks opened a second-round series at home was when they beat Los Angeles 5-2 back on May 2, 1993. . . . Wild centre Jim Dowd missed Friday's game to be with his wife who gave birth to their second child Friday, a baby boy. He is expected to play Sunday. . . . A total of 17 media, including seven from two Minneapolis-area newspapers, travelled to Vancouver for the series.
Cheers,
Aquaman