By John Marshall
The Associated Press

DENVER - The Minnesota Wild were hoping just to win one game against the Colorado Avalanche. That thinking was a little shortsighted.

Andrew Brunette scored 3:25 into overtime and Manny Fernandez stopped 43 shots as the Minnesota Wild won their first playoff series with a 3-2 victory over Colorado on Tuesday night. The Wild came back from a 3-1 deficit in games, winning twice in Denver.

Brunette wound up with the puck after Sergei Zholtok lost it just inside Colorado's blue line. Brunette skated in, held the puck, then flipped a backhander over Patrick Roy for the winner.

Brunette threw his stick in the air and skated to the sideboards, where he was mobbed by teammates. Roy sat on his knees in the crease after the goal.

The Wild will face Vancouver in the next Western Conference series. The Canucks beat St. Louis 4-1 Tuesday night.

Colorado was knocked out in the first round for the first time since losing to Edmonton in seven games in 1998 - the last time the Avalanche lost a series after blowing a 3-1 lead.

Joe Sakic put Colorado up 2-1 with 6:45 left in regulation, one-timing a pass from Alex Tanguay on a power play for his sixth goal of the series.

Anticipating a victory, the crowd was still cheering strongly when Marian Gaborik tied it on a power play with 4:28 left. Gaborik knocked in a rebound after Roy stopped Brunette from the right circle.

Colorado had two chances to close out the series after taking a 3-1 lead, but couldn't put away the pesky Wild.

Minnesota won Game 5 in Denver, then evened the series with a 3-2 overtime win at home just 23 hours before the start of Game 7.

Still, the odds weren't on Minnesota's side. Of the 193 previous teams that trailed a series 3-1, only 16 came back to win. Just seven did it with two road wins.

The Wild were also making their first appearance in the playoffs, while Colorado had won two Stanley Cups in seven years and was in its fifth consecutive Game 7.

The Avs also had the NHL's career victories leader in Roy, who has won four Stanley Cups.

It didn't matter to the Wild.

They stuck to their defensive style and rode Fernandez's hot glove to win three games in Denver after going 0-6-2 there in three years.

Colorado had plenty of early scoring chances, but didn't score until Peter Forsberg knocked in a rebound 6:16 into the second period.

The crowd roared, but again the fans didn't get to cheer long.

Pascal Dupuis tied it just 1:22 later on a power play, circling around the net to slip a backhander past Roy on a rebound. Roy stopped Zholtok on the first shot, but couldn't cover it.

Colorado's Rob Blake caught Fernandez going the wrong way on a shot from beyond the blue line late in the period, but it hit the left post. Forsberg hit the right post early in the third period on a shot that caromed off Minnesota's Willie Mitchell.

Notes

Colorado D Adam Foote returned after missing Game 6 with a sore foot. Avs LW Eric Messier returned after missing two games with the flu. ... Eight of Minnesota's 16 goals in the series were on special teams. ... Minnesota was 7-for-29 on the power play in the series, including 2-for-4 in Game 7. ... Colorado D Martin Skoula lost his stick midway through the third period after it got stuck in a door at the corner of the ice. ... Roy is 12-5 since 2001 in games after a playoff loss, but lost his last two.