Canucks 1, Bruins 0
Raffi Torres broke a scoreless deadlock with 19 seconds left in the third period as the host Vancouver Canucks earned a 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final Wednesday night.
The game's only goal almost didn't happen. Ryan Kesler barely stayed onside to keep the puck in the Boston zone before firing a cross-ice pass to Jannik Hansen. He found a streaking Torres, whose one-time redirection beat a sprawling Tim Thomas just beneath his paddle for Torres' third goal of the postseason.
Roberto Luongo stopped 36 shots for his third shutout of the playoffs. Thomas made 33 saves in defeat.
The teams played a scoreless but wide-open first period that featured plenty of chances at both ends of the ice. The Bruins had the best opportunity after Daniel Sedin picked up a double-minor for high-sticking Zdeno Chara, but they couldn't score despite firing eight shots on net during the lengthy man advantage.
It was more of the same in the second, though the Canucks found themselves down a defenseman early in the period when Dan Hamhuis was injured moments after executing a perfect hip check on the Bruins' Milan Lucic. He did not return.
The 0-0 score through two periods marked the first time since 1984 that Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final went without a goal after 40 minutes.
Thomas was at his most spectacular midway through the third period, stopping Maxim Lapierre's deft redirection from point-blank range without allowing a rebound. He relied on some luck later in the period when Alex Edler's wrist shot rang off the crossbar.