in December 2002, when he missed three games with a knee injury. On February 17, 2003, he was named NHL Player of the Week for the third time in his career. Six days later, he recorded his 30th win of the season, becoming the first Canucks goaltender in team history to reach the plateau in back-to-back years. That same week, he suffered his second knee injury of the season and missed 10 games. He returned to the lineup by mid-March to finish the season with Vancouver. After the Canucks ranked in the eighth and final playoff spot in Cloutier's first two seasons with the team, Cloutier helped lead them to within one point of the Northwest Division title in 2002–03. In 57 games, he posted 33 wins, 16 losses and 7 ties with a 2.42 GAA and .908 save percentage. Cloutier won the first and only playoff series of his career in 2003 as the Canucks eliminated the St. Louis Blues in seven games. He made 33 saves in the deciding contest, a 4–1 win for Vancouver. Advancing to the second round against the Minnesota Wild, the Canucks took a three-games-to-one lead. With Vancouver needing one more win to eliminate the Wild, Cloutier was taken out of Game 5 in favour of rookie Alex Auld after allowing six goals on 21 shots through two periods. As both teams were leaving the ice at the start of the second intermission, opposing goaltender Dwayne Roloson bumped Canucks forward Trevor Linden, prompting Cloutier to challenge Roloson; Cloutier threw two punches towards Roloson and received minor penalties for roughing and for leaving his crease. With Cloutier on the bench for the third period, the Canucks lost 7–2. In the following two games, Cloutier allowed nine goals on 40 shots as the Wild completed a three-game comeback to eliminate the Canucks. In the off-season, Cloutier was re-signed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract on July 15, 2003. Nearly two months into the subsequent season, Cloutier recorded his 100th career NHL win, making 31 saves in a 3–1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on November 27, 2003. As the season progressed, Cloutier suffered several more injuries, the first of which was a groin injury in December 2003 that sidelined him for three games. He missed three more games before the season ended with cases of the flu and a lower-body injury. On February 14, 2004, he