3rd period, 17:27, Vancouver 7-3: Ben Eager just scored a goal for the Sharks. He then appeared to chirp Roberto Luongo pretty good. The result? A penalty for Eager. Even when the guy scores he gets penalties.
Regardless, just a bush league move for Eager. His team is getting dumptrucked (with plenty of thanks to his penalty-filled night), and he's got the nerve to give Luongo some lip? Please.
3rd period, 16:42, Vancouver 7-2: At this point, it's tough to take anything else out of this, but the Canucks just added another goal for good measure. Absolutely no life or fight in the Sharks right now, either.
For those wondering, it was Mason Raymond with the tally.
3rd period, 14:30, Vancouver 6-2: This one is turning into a laugher, as the Canucks are just showing off now. They just cycled the puck in the offensive zone a few times, playing keep-away essentially, before Aaron Rome crashed the net to slam home a rebound for his first goal of the playoffs.
The Canucks are just doing whatever they want in the offensive zone and the Sharks are doing nothing to stop it. Also, San Jose's third-period miseries are continuing after a Game 1 in which they saw a one-goal lead at intermission disappear.
They've been outscored 5-0 in the third in two games, and a shiny red post just kept it from being 6-0 as I write this.
3rd period, 11:41, Vancouver 5-2: The twins strike again.
This Vancouver team is dangerous on the power play, especially when Daniel and Henrik Sedin are out there.
They were just out there for that shift, and it was Henrik once again finding Daniel for another power-play goal. It was just a perfect feed from Henrik from the corner to Daniel who was skating down the slot (surprisingly uncontested). He buried it, and this one is slipping away from the boys in white and teal.
3rd period, 10:48, Vancouver 4-2: Things are starting to unwravel a little bit for the Sharks. Joe Thornton just looked poised for an uncontested breakaway, but another sloppy penalty cost San Jose.
This time, it was too many men on the ice. This power play could be the Canucks' chance to put things away.
3rd period, 7:56, Vancouver 4-2: And there's the insurance goal, at least temporary insurance.
Chris Higgins just scored from the slot on the power play to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead. You have to credit Alex Burrows on that one, too, as he was planted in front of Niemi making it practically impossible to see anything.
As the Versus guys pointed out, Burrows may have been too deep into the crease — he did have both skates planted in there — but there was no contact, so that was likely the reason it wasn't called.
3rd period, 6:57, Vancouver 3-2: Ben Eager is getting pretty familiar with the guys working in the penalty box. He just picked up his third minor of the night, and the Canucks have a chance to get some insurance on the man-advantage.
Just got a replay of the Eager penalty. It wasn't a good one, as Eager took a foolish tripping penalty as he was skating off in front of his bench.
3rd period, 6:30, Vancouver 3-2: So far, the momentum has sided with the Canucks. If the Sharks got a lift out of late in the second, it's not showing yet.
The Canucks haven't had any real scoring chances yet, but they're controlling posssession and keeping the pressure on.
3rd period, 3:00, Vancouver 3-2: The Sharks killed off the Eager penalty. Now they're going to have to find a way to reverse their fortunes from Game 1 and turn the tables on the Canucks.
It will be interesting to see if the Sharks are inspired at all by the Niemi save and/or the Marleau fight early on.
End 2nd, Vancouver 3-2: When the third period resumes, the Canucks will still be on the power play after Ben Eager was sent off for a late penalty.
Eager could have actually gotten more than two minutes, actually, as he appeared to hit Daniel Sedin from behind.
Alas, he was only assessed a minor, and that will carry over to the third period.
2nd period, 17:58, Vancouver 3-2: We've got another potential turning point, this one courtesy of Patrick Marleau.
Not known for fighting, Marleau just got the tar kicked out of him by Kevin Bieska (have a night), but the fact that Marleau dropped the gloves seems to have given the Sharks a little bit of a bounce.
But, like I said, it wasn't pretty. They showed Bieska walking back to the room looking at his hands. Not surprising.
2nd period, 17:34, Vancouver 3-2: It's cliche, but if the Sharks come back and win this game, you'll point to the save Antti Niemi just made as a huge point in the game.
The Sedins were doing their magical "we have special powers" act, and it was Henrik who set up Alexander Edler across the slot, but Niemi went post to post to just absolutely rob Edler.
2nd period, 12:05, Vancouver 3-2: The Sharks just got a little careless and the Canucks got opportunistic, and because of it, we've got a 3-2 game now in favor of Vancouver.
The Canucks just transitioned from defense to offense out of their zone in the blink of an eye. Combine that with the Sharks pausing to get back, you've got a breakaway goal for Kevin Bieska. Great pass from Christopher Higgins who set the play up out of the Vancouver zone.
2nd period, 10:16, 2-2: Some back and forth in the second period, but no real scoring chances to speak of.
One observation is that Joe Pavelski is following through on his comments he made the other day. He's played a pretty strong game, and he certainly hasn't been afraid to get his nose dirty at any point.
Not surprisingly, Ryan Kesler has played a solid game for Vancouver, too.
2nd period, 5:04, 2-2: Jannik Hansen just got the best opportunity of the young period, but Antti Niemi made a nice glove save.
Hansen tried to take advantage of a careless San Jose turnover in their own zone. The Canucks have a pretty good offense, so it's probably safe to assume you should avoid those defensive zone turnovers.
2nd period, 2:00, 2-2: The second period is under way, and it hasn't gone the way Ian White drew it up. He just wore a puck in the face or neck. Going out on a limb to say that one probably stung a little bit. He remained on the San Jose bench, though, for the time being.
End 1st period, 2-2: The Sharks should head to the room with roughly a four-minute power play, but the referees seem to have missed one.
Joe Thornton went down like he was shot after apparently taking a stick to the face. It either wasn't seen or Thornton didn't get the benefit of the doubt. Either way, replays showed that Thornton clearly took a high stick to the face and was left bloodied under his left eye.
1st Period, 18:50, 2-2: Luongo just got snowed pretty good by Joe Pavelski, who said the Sharks needed to put their "work hats on." He got away with it, mainly because Henrik Sedin was the first Canuck on the scene.
1st Period, 16:54, 2-2: As even The Boston Globe's Kevin Paul-Dupont has been able to admit, Joe Thornton has stepped up his play in the last couple of weeks.
He's had a nice night so far in Game 2, and he just set up what was almost another Sharks goal, but the shot clanged off the post.
1st Period, 13:03, 2-2: Credit me for seeing that goal right away, and credit the Toronto offices who will no doubt say that a goal was just scored.
After a wide shot went off the endboards (sound familiar, B's fans?), Joe Thornton backhanded it on net where Patrick Marleau chipped at it. The puck appeared to cross the line, and the Sharks celebrated, but play went on.
Anyway, they reviewed it, and it is now a goal.
1st Period, 12:19, Vancouver 2-1: Daniel Sedin gets whistled for a borderline cross-check, giving San Jose a power play and the chance to tie it up.
1st Period, 10:20, Vancouver 2-1: Just 39 seconds later, the Canucks take the lead. After a sluggish start, they clearly have all of the momentum after Christian Ehrhoff finds Raffi Torres with a beautiful backhanded centering pass that Torres bangs home.1st Period, 9:39, 1-1: The Sedin brothers are a lot of fun to watch. This time, it's Daniel to Henrik and Henrik back to Daniel on the power play for Vancouver's first goal of the contest.
The puck movement on that power play was a thing of beauty.
1st Period, 7:50, San Jose 1-0: Joe Pavelski goes off for two minutes for tripping. That gives the Canucks their first power play.
1st Period, 5:40, San Jose 1-0: The ice is tilted early on in Vancouver, and San Jose is spending a lot of time in the attacking zone. They just wrung a post and have had all of the chances.
Already, though, there have been a couple of scrums in front of the net, the latest of which resulted in matching minors for Raffi Torres and Ben Eager. The intensity has not missed a beat so far. Good stuff.
1st Period, 2:28, San Jose 1-0: Logan Couture, known as the guy the Bruins passed over for Zach Hamill, gets the Sharks on the board early on with a beautiful goal.
Couture got behind the Vancouver defense just enough to fake to his backhand before shoving a forehand past Roberto Luongo to give San Jose an early lead.
1st Period, 1:19: Aaron Rome gets called for the trip, and he goes off, giving the Sharks the first power play of the evening.
1st Period, 1:00: Finally, things have gotten under way in Vancouver.
8:05 p.m.: Joe Thornton tried to get his team going prior to Game 1 by challenging Vancouver's Ryan Kesler to a fight.
Kesler denied, and this, apparently surprised Thornton. The San Jose forward told NHL.com that he was "shocked" that Kesler did not oblige.
Kesler, on the other hand, was surprised that Thornton had asked him to go, and then Kesler uttered what could be the best line said all series when he added that Thornton was just "trying to be tough."
"If he wants to fight me, obviously I play him four times a year — he can fight me next year," Kesler said at morning skate on Wednesday.
10 a.m.: The San Jose Sharks played a forgettable third period on Sunday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sharks will have a chance to make amends for that on Wednesday night, and more importantly, they'll have a chance to even the series when they head take on the Canucks in Vancouver.
San Jose took a 2-1 lead into the third period on Sunday night, but Vancouver scored a pair of goals in just over a minute before skating to a 3-2 lead.
The Sharks sound like they're going to do everything they can to get physical with the Canucks in Game 2.
"The guys were ready and we were saying a lot of the right things, but you have to remember that you have to put your work hat on," Joe Pavelski told NHL.com "You have to go out there and skate and work and battle, and if you can set that tone physically, your mind is usually in it and it all kind of falls into place."
Meanwhile, the Canucks have to hope that Henrik Sedin has found his scoring touch. After registering just four points to go along with a minus-4 in Vancouver's series with the Nashville Predators, Sedin tallied a goal and an assist in Game 1.
He struggled some in the opening series against Chicago as well, so if he's able to get going offensively, the Canucks are going to be tough to beat.
Face-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET, so be sure to check back then for updates throughout the night.
