7. Pierre-Marc Bouchard – 2008 WCQF Game 3
After celebrating their only division crown in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild entered the playoffs as the third seed in the West against a familiar Northwest Division foe in the Colorado Avalanche.
Believe it or not, the first three games of this series actually went to overtime. Game three ended when Pierre-Marc Bouchard roofed a shot past Jose Theodore at Pepsi Center. Highlighting the victory was Niklas Backstrom stopping 44 of 46 shots (seriously) and Mikko Koivu scoring his third goal in as many playoff games.
Minnesota may have been the higher seed, but they were by no means the better team. Sure, the Avalanche were clinging to players from their dominant years in the late-90’s to early-2000’s and looking to usher in a new era, but look at some of the names. Joe Sakic. Peter Forsberg. Milan Hejduk. Heck, even our guy Andrew Brunette got in on the fun.
Colorado would go on to take the next three games and close out Minnesota 4-2 in the series.