Shred the scouting reports, tear the names and numbers off the jerseys, and it would not matter to the Minnesota Wild and Avalanche, familiar foes poised for another series of confrontation.
The Wild made history in 2003 when it rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the heavily favored Avs in the Minnesota franchise’s first NHL playoff appearance.
Five years later, the teams renew postseason acquaintances with the roles of favorite and underdog reversed.
The Wild is the reigning Northwest Division champion and won the regular-season series over Colorado. It also owns home-ice advantage for the best-of-seven conference quarterfinal series that starts Wednesday night at the Xcel Energy Center.
Playing with more desperation against Wild backup goalie Josh Harding, the Avalanche pulled out a 4-3 shootout victory Sunday at the Pepsi Center that locked in the final piece of the Wild’s playoff puzzle.
The Wild’s division-clinching victory over Calgary last week nailed down the third seed in the West. A regulation win over the Avalanche would have set up the Wild for the Flames, who have dominated Minnesota most of the season.
The Avs, meanwhile, avoided a matchup with red-hot San Jose by leapfrogging Calgary in the standings on the final day of the season.
The Wild and the Avalanche won 44 games, and only three points separated the teams in the final standings. In their eight meetings, the Wild outscored Colorado 22-19, and four games were decided by one goal.
“There’s no secrets,” Wild defenseman Keith Carney said. “It’s going to be the team that executes and plays well defensively and wins special teams.”
Ten players remain from the epic 2003 clash, including Game 7 hero Andrew Brunette and Martin Skoula, though they have switched sides.
Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Peter Forsberg still lead Colorado’s attack. Sakic is the team’s all-time leading playoff performer with 82 goals and 178 points.
Forsberg, dogged by injuries in recent years, is showing glimpses of his prime. He assisted on three of Colorado’s goals Sunday and enters the postseason with 12 points in his past five games.
“We have to do a job on him — better job than tonight, that’s for sure,” Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson said. “You have to play him tight. We can’t give him any time to set up and make those plays that he did tonight.”
The Wild is more balanced than five years ago and no longer can employ the rope-a-dope strategy that allowed the team to spring its trap on the unsuspecting Avs.
The regulation tie cemented the playoff pairings and left nothing at stake as the teams forced a shootout.
Marian Gaborik and Ian Laperriere did not think so, though. They dropped the gloves and scrapped as overtime expired, which earned Gaborik his first fighting major in 485 NHL games.
“This game was different than other games. Now, it’s over. Everything starts right now,” Gaborik said.
“We’re playing at home. We have an advantage. It’s going to be a tough series. We’re excited.”
