Henrik Sedin scores winner as Vancouver Canucks beat San Jose Sharks – game 1, NHL playoffs
In a highly thrilling match, Vancouver Canucks managed to make a miraculous recovery in the third period and maintained it to finally end the match 3-2, defeating San Jose Sharks in game one of the Western Conference semi-finals at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver
on Sunday.
“I just think we finally found our legs,” Canucks Ryan Kesler said. “We were a little rusty in the first period. I thought we played well, but I think second and third period we found that extra gear and we continued. We forced them and we put a lot of pucks
on the net. We generated most of the offense.”
Entering the 2011 National Hockey League playoff Western Conference finals, both San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks are optimistic of advancing to finally get their franchise a Stanley Cup for the first time. San Jose on the other hand, have not been
able to advance into the Cup finals since they joined the NHL. Vancouver, unlike the Sharks, have reached the finals but have not won a single time in the past 40 years.
Joe Thornton made the exhilarated crowd freeze in their own seats when he scored the first goal of the match and took the lead for the away team with a little over a minute remaining in the first period. San Jose managed to kill two penalties which were
the only ones of the initial period when Douglas Murray and Ben Eager were sent to the benches for two minutes each.
The centre player for Vancouver Maxim Lapierre scored his first goal of the season to level the match in the opening two minutes of the second period. Patrick Marleau answered back in the next seven minutes and once again took the lead for San Jose benefiting
from Vancouver’s first penalty of the match when Mason Raymond was booked for holding Joe Pavelski.
Kevin Bieksa scored a right-hander in the third period sending the crowd into frenzy when he tied the match with less than 13 minutes remaining. Henrik Sedin scored the game winner a minute and 20 seconds later to take the lead for the home team on a power
play of their own. The Canucks fought hard to lockdown the Sharks offence and they were successful in their attempts as they ended the match 3-2.
Vancouver outshot the Sharks 38-29 as Roberto Luongo blocked 27 and Antti Niemi stopped 35. The only Canadian team remaining in the playoffs has high hopes to bring back the Stanley Cup after an 18-year drought. They will have a chance to take a commanding
lead in the series on Wednesday when they face off for game two of the conference finals.
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