Goc lifts Panthers past Canucks

Sunrise, Florida — Marcel Goc scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period and the Florida Panthers beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 on Monday. Goc also had an assist as the Panthers won for just the third time in nine games.

Also Monday, Kyle Clifford scored the host Los Angeles Kings' first regulation goal in more than 170 minutes, Jack Johnson snapped a personal 17-game goal drought, and Los Angeles emphatically emerged from its scoring slump in a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.

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Canucks stun Bruins with goal 11 seconds into OT

Game over: Bruins goalie Tim Thomas allows the winning goal in overtime on Saturday in Vancouver. The Canucks won 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup final. AP

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — In a mere 11 seconds, Alex Burrows used the strengths of the Boston Bruins' two best defensive players against them.

In one electric moment, the Vancouver Canucks' scrappy forward made sure he'll be remembered for something other than his infamous bite in the Stanley Cup finals.

Everybody knew Burrows was fast. Just not this fast.

Burrows circled the net and scored a stunning goal right off the overtime faceoff, capping a three-point night and ending the Canucks' 3-2 win in Game 2 Saturday night with the second-speediest overtime goal in NHL playoff and finals history.

Vancouver took a 2-0 lead in the finals heading to Boston for Game 3 on Monday thanks to the brilliance of Burrows, who avoided suspension for this game after being accused of biting Boston's Patrice Bergeron in Game 1 — but still endured criticism from fans and media.

"My parents don't really like the negative press I get sometimes," Burrows said. "It hurts them, not me. My dad told me I should go out and score some goals, because that's what's really going to hurt them."

Burrows scored on a power play in the first period, and he even set up Daniel Sedin's tying goal midway through the third period with a sharp pass from the slot.

And after the overtime draw, Burrows received a pass from Sedin and streaked down the side, eluding Boston captain Zdeno Chara behind the net. He extended his stick for a wraparound shot, beating out-of-position goalie Tim Thomas for his second goal of the game.

"As soon as I got the puck, I knew I was going to fake a shot and then try to beat him," Burrows said. "I lost the puck in front of Tim Thomas, but I got it back, and I got it in."

Burrows' speed turned the strengths of Chara and Thomas into huge problems. Although the 206-cm Chara is a massive obstacle, he wasn't mobile enough to match Burrows' slick turn behind the net, not even with his enormous reach.

Thomas is an aggressive goalie with a Vezina Trophy at home, but his aggression sometimes gets him away from the net.

"We knew our scouting report on Thomas," Burrows said. "We know he likes to come out and challenge and freeze you, so if I shoot there, I think he stops it and covers all the angles, so I wanted to walk around."

Burrows' goal nearly was the fastest OT goal in finals history, taking just a bit longer than Brian Skrudland's goal for Montreal 9 seconds into Game 2 against Calgary on May 18, 1986.

"Burr comes in to make a sick play," said NHL scoring champion Sedin, who tied it with 10:23 left in the third period. "It was crazy. Outreach a 6-(foot)-9 player? I didn't think he was going to be able to score from where he was. I don't know what happened, but it was really nice to see it go in."

Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for the Canucks, and Thomas stopped 30 shots for the Bruins. He was left lamenting his positional error after another otherwise strong finals game, which ended with his net unguarded.

"A mistake is a mistake, no matter what," Thomas said. "You've just got to move on."

Only four teams have rallied from an 0-2 series deficit to win the Stanley Cup in 46 tries, although Sidney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins did it against Detroit in 2009.

Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic scored for the Bruins, who trailed 0-2 in the first round against Montreal — losing both games at home — before rallying to win the series in seven games.

"It was better today than in Game 1, and we're going to have to keep that up if we want to score some more goals," Lucic said.

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Bieksa's OT winner gives Canucks chance to play for Cup

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Kevin Bieksa scored 10:18 into the second overtime and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 17 years with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

The Canucks ended the Western Conference finals in five games after getting even 2-2 with 13.2 seconds left in regulation when Ryan Kesler scored with goalie Roberto Luongo on the Vancouver bench for an extra skater.

It will be Vancouver's first trip to the Cup finals since 1994, when they lost in seven games to the New York Rangers. The last NHL team from Canada to win the title was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.

Exactly 17 years to the day after they earned their previous trip to play for the Cup, the Canucks used 54 saves from Luongo and a lucky bounce to Bieksa to advance to the finals for the third time in the team's 40-year history.

The puck caromed awkwardly off the glass on the sideboards and out to Bieksa just inside the blue line. His quick shot beat Antti Niemi inside the right post before the goalie — or mostly everyone else on the ice — could find the puck.

"The only guy who knew where that puck was, was Kevin Bieksa and he almost fanned on it," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "It's one of those things you have no control over. We can talk about it all we want. There is nothing we can do about it."

Luongo raised his stick in celebration as his teammates jumped onto the ice. Blue confetti fell from the roof as the sellout crowd chanted, "We want the Cup."

"I think when the puck went in, the goalie was looking behind the net," Bieksa said. "It was an ugly goal, but one I will take.

"It's fantastic. It's unbelievable. To go to the Stanley Cup final is a dream come true."

The Sharks outshot Vancouver 16-9 and 56-34 overall. Despite having a 91-47 shots advantage over the final two games of the series, San Jose lost both. The Canucks won Game 4 on Sunday 4-2 even though they recorded only 13 shots.

Vancouver was down 2-1 after Luongo's gamble left Devin Setoguchi with an empty net 24 seconds into the third period.

But Kesler, who left briefly in the second period with an apparent injury to his left leg, deflected Henrik Sedin's shot through Niemi after a questionable icing call against San Jose. Replays appeared to show that the puck hit Daniel Sedin, but icing was called anyway to set up an offensive zone faceoff for Vancouver.

After claiming the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team, the Canucks are now only four wins away from claiming their first Stanley Cup championship.

Atlanta — The Atlanta Thrashers' sale and move to Winnipeg is not yet official, but Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke on Tuesday as if losing the team is inevitable.

"I think anytime we lose a major sports franchise, it is tough," Reed said.

"It is going to hurt the city but we will withstand it just fine and we will get through it. We have a lot of positive things going on in the sports franchise space that I think we'll be announcing pretty soon that will offset it a bit."

An official announcement concerning a Thrashers' sale and move has yet to be made.

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Canucks push Sharks closer to elimination

SAN JOSE, California — With the sharp-passing Sedin twins, plenty of players with big shots, and a gold-medal winning goalie, the Vancouver Canucks are tough enough to beat in normal situations. That task becomes nearly impossible when they have two extra skaters on the ice.

Almost there: Canucks defenseman Sami Salo celebrates scoring against the Sharks on Sunday in San Jose, California.? AP PHOTO

The Canucks converted three successive 5-on-3 power plays in a span of less than 2 minutes during the second period, with Sami Salo scoring twice and Ryan Kesler adding the third, to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Sunday in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals to take a 3-1 series lead.

"We kept marching to the box, they kept scoring," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said.

Henrik Sedin helped set up the three goals in a span of 1:55 as the Canucks needed only 37 seconds on the three 5-on-3 situations to become the first team in NHL history to score three goals with a two-man advantage in the playoffs.

He added another assist in the third period to set a franchise record for assists in a game, increasing his league-leading total to 19 points this postseason.

"When you give Henrik that much open time, he's going to find a way to make plays," teammate Alexandre Burrows said. "We have great shooters on that power play and it's nice to see them. He's a magical player the way he's able to hold on to that puck and make plays."

Burrows added an even-strength goal off a nifty pass from Henrik Sedin in the third period as the Canucks moved to the brink of reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994. Daniel Sedin added three assists, and Roberto Luongo made 33 saves.

Vancouver had just 13 shots all game, scoring on four of their seven shots in the final two periods. The Sharks had no answer for the Sedins, who have combined for 15 points in four games this series after having just seven points and a minus-10 rating in six games against Nashville the previous round.

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Canucks pound Sharks, take 2-0 lead in series

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The harder the San Jose Sharks tried to get back at the Vancouver Canucks, the further they fell behind.

Rout: Vancouver's Raffi Torres avoids a check from San Jose's Ian White in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The Canucks beat the Sharks 7-3 and lead the Western Conference final series 2-0. AP PHOTO

Daniel Sedin netted his second power-play goal of the game, Chris Higgins added another, and Mason Raymond scored just after a penalty expired in the third period for the Canucks, who routed the undisciplined Sharks 7-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night.

"If we had a bad power play they could take some liberties against us, but when you've got a power play as good as us it makes them second guess trying to finish hits," said Higgins, who also had two assists. "It's a big weapon for us. If we can get them to take bad penalties, all the better."

The game became a blowout in the third period, but it turned on a breakaway by defenseman Kevin Bieksa, and his one-sided fight with Sharks forward Patrick Marleau six minutes later. Marleau admitted to dropping his gloves first, and he has 5 cm and 10 kg on Bieksa. But Marleau hasn't fought in five years and was clearly overmatched.

"I've got an older brother, too, so I'm used to getting that," said Marleau, who also scored his third goal in three games during a first-period power play.

Still, the lopsided bout upset San Jose- especially Ben Eager. The Sharks' tough guy yelled at the Vancouver bench, then ran Daniel Sedin face first into the boards on his next shift 90 seconds later, earning a boarding penalty.

"Eager was ranting and raving at his bench going berserk, but it wasn't Kevin that dropped the mitts, it was Marleau," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "So I'm not sure what he (Bieksa) was supposed to do there."

Eager took another penalty for tripping Raymond 6:57 into the third period, Higgins made it 4-2 on the ensuing power play, and the rout was on.

"I can't see in their heads, but I'm not sure what got them rattled," said Bieksa, who added an assist on Higgins' goal to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick. "I don't really care too much about how they're feeling. . . . That's been the strength of our team all year, our power play. A lot of the times we've won by three, four goals. They were close games until the other team started to get undisciplined. And on our power play we capitalized."

Eager scored with 2:33 left, but even then he ended up in the penalty box for yapping at Roberto Luongo and sparking a scrum. Eager finished with five minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct as the Sharks combined for 53 minutes in penalties while losing for the fifth time in six games.

San Jose's lone win in the past six games was in Game 7 of the second round over Detroit, which got the Sharks into the conference finals for the second straight year.

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Canucks put away Preds

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The Vancouver Canucks have had plenty of practice this postseason when given the chance to eliminate an opponent. They finally found a way to make it look easy.

Not this time: Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne stops a shot from Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in the first period of Game 6 on Monday. The Canucks beat the Predators 2-1 to win the series 4-2. AP

Daniel Sedin and Mason Raymond scored first-period goals, and Roberto Luongo made 23 saves as the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 in Game 6 to advance to the Western Conference finals on Monday night.

"Relief," Sedin's twin brother Henrik said of his emotions. "It was one of those series where they get on a roll and they win this game, and all of a sudden there is a seventh game. That's the playoffs. There were a lot of ups and downs, so we are happy."

The Canucks, who had the NHL's best record this regular season, reached the conference finals for the first time since 1994 and will face the winner of the series between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings. San Jose leads that series 3-2, with Game 6 to be played in Detroit on Tuesday night.

Vancouver is 2-4 this year with the opportunity to advance on the line, and 6-1 in its other playoff games. The Canucks blew a 3-0 series lead against defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago in the first round before finally eliminating the Blackhawks in overtime of Game 7.

That gave the Canucks the chance to face Nashville, which reached the second round for the first time in team history.

They made themselves comfortable on the Predators' ice, winning all three games there in the series. Vancouver was just 1-2 at home in the series.

Raymond gave the Canucks the lead 7:45 into the game and Daniel Sedin made it 2-0 just 1:43 later. Luongo did the rest for the Canucks, who were outshot 24-19. Vancouver recorded only nine total shots in the first two periods.

David Legwand's goal 3:31 into the second period cut the Canucks' lead to 2-1. The goal — Legwand's sixth of the postseason — stood up to a video review, but Nashville couldn't avoid elimination again and force a Game 7.

"The first two periods I thought we played as well as we've played in the playoffs," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "The first period was a little disturbing because — according to our sources and what we track — we were out-chancing them 11 to two and we were losing 2-0. That's a hard pill to swallow."

After grabbing the early lead, Vancouver put the game away with defense. Nashville had 11 shots in the first period, but only 13 over the final 40 minutes. The Predators also failed to take advantage of four first-period penalty plays.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said his team's early penalty kills were huge.

"You start off and take four penalties in the first, two right off the bat," he said. "Penalty kill is having players committed and great goaltending. Luongo made a couple of huge saves right off the bat that permitted us to get a goal five-on-five and then a power-play goal."

Vancouver got some help to get its offense rolling as Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter turned over the puck to Ryan Kesler right next to the net. Kesler passed to Raymond, who backhanded a shot past goalie Pekka Rinne, who finished with 17 saves.

Daniel Sedin doubled the lead while Nashville forward Jordin Tootoo served an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving, after he was hit by Alex Edler. Sedin connected just 36 seconds into the power play.

Martin Erat had one of the Predators' best looks at another goal on a breakaway after coming off the bench, but Jeff Tambellini caught up with him and knocked him down just before he was able to take a clean shot.

Nashville had gotten a little taste of elimination pressure during the regular season. The Predators were 11th in the West on March 10, but moved up to the fifth seed with a 14-4-3 finish to the regular season.

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