Flippin' Quarters No. 5: Colorado's Wild Overtimes, 2003

This is the 13th postseason since Gary Bettman and Co. flipped the NHL's playoff format for the 1993-94 season from divisional to conference-based. Here's the next entry for the Top 13 Stanley Cup Quarterfinal Series since the big format flip:

No. 5: Colorado Avalanche (3 seed) vs. Minnesota Wild (6 seed), 2003
Minnesota Wild 4-2 at Colorado Avalanche
Minnesota Wild 2-3 at Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche 3-0 at Minnesota Wild
Colorado Avalanche 3-1 at Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild 3-2 at Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche 2-3 at Minnesota Wild (OT)
Minnesota Wild 3-2 at Colorado Avalanche (OT)

Minnesota basically won this series by staving off elimination in Game 5, as the pressure completely shifted to an Avalanche team that failed to put away Detroit in the 2002 conference finals despite holding a 3-2 series lead. The Wild - behind Manny Fernandez, who replaced Dwayne Roloson in Game 4 and back-stopped the rest of the series - won the final two games by 3-2 decisions in overtime. Andrew Brunette scored 3:25 into the fourth period in Game 7 to give the Wild their first playoff series victory. Patrick Roy said it was a matter of heart:

"We played with fire, burned ourselves. We did that a couple of years in a row and this year, we paid for that. We were not ready in Game Five, we gave them a chance to come back. And they beat us in Game Six. ... I think that was a team that wanted it more than us."

Maybe St. Patrick was on to something: This series was his last in the NHL.