7 Best Playoff Goals In Minnesota Wild History
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.
6. Darby Hendrickson – 2003 WCSF Game 7
Try to ignore that this video looks like it was filmed with a calculator. If you ever need a reminder of how awesome high definition television is, watch an old hockey game and try to keep your eye on the puck.
Regardless if you could even see it, the puck did go in past Dan Cloutier. Former Minnesota Wild forward and now assistant coach Darby Hendrickson supplied that bomb late in the third period of game seven which completed the comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the game and a 3-1 hole in the series.
It was the first time in NHL history that any team had overcome a pair of 3-1 series deficits in the same playoff year and vaulted the Wild to an improbable conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
We won’t go too deep into how that series went, but the Minnesota Wild scored one, count it, one goal.
5. Brian Rolston – 2007 WCQF Game 4
Before we get to the goal, this one needs a little bit of back story. Down 3-0 against the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, the Wild had quite the hill to climb if they wanted to get past round one. The Ducks, led by the likes of Chris Pronger, came to Xcel Energy Center looking to close out the series behind enemy lines.
How were they going to do it?
Take a gander at the video below and answer for yourself.
Following that sucker punch by Brad May on Kim Johnsson, Minnesota Wild fans began imploring coach Jacques Lemaire to send Derek Boogaard onto the ice for a little redemption, or at least to send the Ducks a message that the series wasn’t over. Lemaire obliged and Boogaard took a quick lap to a standing ovation.
Rest in peace, Boogie Man. This will always be one of our favorite moments of your career.
Now for the goal. Brian Rolston grabs the puck and streaks down the ice, drops it for Pavol Demitra (RIP as well), and he slides it back for Rolston for the pretty tap-in goal.
If you didn’t notice the first time around, look at who is in net for the Ducks.
Yep, “Mr. Universh” himself, Ilya Bryzgalov.
4. Mikael Granlund – 2014 WCQF Game 3
Let’s consider what happens if Mikael Granlund doesn’t score this goal.
Down 2-0 in the series and seeking refuge at home, the Wild were in an absolute must-win situation. They lose this game and they most likely lose the series. They lose the series in convincing fashion and Mike Yeo might not have a job. Talk about important.
Check that goal out in slow motion one more time. Under the swinging stick of Marc-Andre Cliche, just around the outstretched glove of Erik Johnson, and finally into the net while falling down. Pure magic from Mickey G.
If you’ll remember, Semyon Varlamov stopped 45 of 46 shots in this game to even give his team a whiff of winning in overtime. Fortunately, Darcy Kuemper pitched a no-no of his own, stopping all 22 shots he faced and the rest is history.
3. Richard Park – 2003 WCQF Game 6
First, let’s take a quick second to remember the glory days when ESPN actually acknowledged that hockey is a sport.
Over a decade and two lockouts later, ESPN considers Barry Melrose to be a “hockey expert” because he puts a gallon of grease in his hair and has a mild Canadian accent.
We get it, ESPN, LeBron James’ receding hair line and Rob Gronkowski spiking a watermelon are far more important than hockey now.
But I digress..
Richard Park, the Saint of Seoul, South Korea, was able to sneak that wrister through Patrick Roy’s five-hole to ignite the Minnesota fans and send the series back to Denver for a decisive game seven. The angle never looked to be there in the first place, but somehow Park was able to beat arguably the best goalie in hockey history between the pads as well as foreshadow game seven’s outcome perfectly.
In case you’ve never seen it, here’s a cool little explanation from Park as to why he even let it fly in the first place.
2. Nino Niederreiter – 2014 WCQF Game 7
The echoing sound of Nino Niederreiter’s bomb hitting the crossbar will never get old, unless of course if you’re a Colorado Avalanche fan, in which case I don’t know why you’re still watching these videos.
What a way to end a series and what an unlikely combination of players to pull it off. As much as Minnesota Wild fans bashed Dany Heatley and Kyle Brodziak for their poor performances during the regular season, they both played out of their minds in game seven and throughout the series with Nino.
And to you kids out there, if you ever score a goal that comes back out of the net so fast that half the players on the ice are still competing, consider that an acceptable time to slide on one knee from blue line to blue line while windmilling one arm so violently your shoulder rips out of its socket.
Also, bonus points to Heater for clocking Ryan O’Reilly in the face with his stick during the team celebration.
1. Andrew Brunette – 2003 WCQF Game 7
The reason this goal gets the nod for the best Minnesota Wild playoff goal over Nino’s is because of how improbable it was. Minnesota, just a few years removed from their inaugural season and playing with a real ragtag group of guys, was able to take down most people’s Stanley Cup favorite that year.
Similar to the 2008 series with Colorado, the Avs had a couple of future Hall of Famers, but the difference this time is that those guys were in their respective primes. Sakic. Forsberg. Blake. Foote. Roy. All recognizable by hockey fans just by their last names.
Brunette will go down in history, but that goal doesn’t happen without the heads up play of the late Sergei Zholtok. He brilliantly lets up on the gas just prior to gaining the blue line to avoid a pair of Avalanche sticks before dropping it off. He then sets a little pick on Derek Morris before taking Rob Blake out of the play.
Meanwhile, Andrew “Cement Skates” Brunette oozes past Morris at the speed of slime before bamboozling Patrick Roy on the backhand stuff. He then proceeds to lose his Z-Bubble and his lunch all in one motion. Hard not to love that play.
And let’s not forget about Jacques Lemaire on the bench, who legitimately looks like he has no idea what just happened. He resembles an old man lost in a grocery store looking for Metamucil in the frozen foods section. What a character.
That’ll do, folks. Here’s a bonus goal for all you nostalgia fans out there.