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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Marleau nets pair as Sharks climb back into series

SAN JOSE — Patrick Marleau got San Jose off to a fast start, Antti Niemi preserved the lead with spectacular short-handed play in the second period, and the Sharks hung on for the win they desperately needed after losing the first two games in Vancouver.

Crucial win: San Jose goalie Antti Niemi makes a save against Vancouver in Game 3 on Friday night. The Sharks beat the Canucks 4-3 and trail 2-1 in the series. AP PHOTO

Marleau scored twice in the first period, Niemi made 27 saves, and the Sharks capitalized on 10 power-play chances to beat the Canucks 4-3 Friday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference final.

"We realize how important tonight was," captain Joe Thornton said. "We realize what's at stake. The guys showed up and the fans were into it. They gave us an extra boost."

Ryane Clowe and Dan Boyle also scored and Joe Thornton had three assists for the Sharks, who still trail the series 2-1 after winning a conference final game on home ice for the first time in franchise history.

San Jose looked like a completely different team than the one that was outscored 10-5 in losing the first two games of the series in Vancouver. The Sharks scored three times in the first period and had 15 of the first 16 shots on goal to snap an eight-game losing streak in the conference final, including a sweep last year to Chicago.

"The last two have not been anywhere near par for our group," coach Todd McLellan said. "So it was nice to see us return to the way we can play."

Game 4 is Sunday in San Jose.

Alexandre Burrows, Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa scored in the third period for the Canucks, who were unable to overcome their slow start or capitalize on big chances in the second.

The Canucks nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit, thanks to a five-minute boarding call on Jamie McGinn against Aaron Rome that led to power-play goals from Hamhuis and Bieksa to cut San Jose's lead to 4-3 with 3:56 remaining.

But the Canucks couldn't get the equalizer as they were hurt by a late penalty by Bieksa — his third of the game. That gave the Sharks their 10th power play, something that upset Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault.

"I thought we were pretty disciplined," Vigneault said. "So if I were to comment on what I think of the penalties, I would get a pretty big fine. So I'm going to save my money."

Vigneault has bigger concerns with the status of two of his defensemen in doubt. Both Rome and Christian Ehrhoff could miss Game 4 because of injuries after taking hits from McGinn. McGinn also could be suspended after getting his second game misconduct of the playoffs.

After the Sharks broke out to a 3-0 lead after one period on a pair of power-play goals and Marleau's breakaway, Niemi and a much-improved penalty-killing unit maintained that lead in a tense second period.

San Jose got the first five power-play chances in a major turnaround from what happened when the Sharks were undisciplined and a step slow in Vancouver. But even when the Canucks got a chance with a man — or even two-man — advantage, they struggled to beat Niemi.

During one stretch of 4:05 late in the second period, Vancouver was on the power play, including 1:55 over two stints with a 5-on-3 advantage. The Canucks managed just five shots during that entire time, with none getting past Niemi. He robbed Burrows at the side of the net and made a tough stop on Daniel Sedin.

Joe Pavelski added a key block of a good chance by Sami Salo as the Sharks frustrated a Canucks team that had four power-play goals in winning the first two games at home.

"With the chances we had, we have to score," Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said. "They were blocking a lot of shots. Maybe we need to look at taking the extra pass. It was tough to take. We were feeling good about ourselves."

Urged on by their boisterous fans wearing orange shirts and waving orange towels, the Sharks responded from the two losses in Vancouver with a dominant first period led by a dangerous power-play unit and strong play from Thornton's line against the Sedin twins.

After being done in by committing too many penalties in Game 2, the Sharks took advantage of a couple of early calls against the Canucks to seize control early. With Maxim Lapierre in the penalty box for roughing, Thornton threaded a perfect pass from behind the net to Marleau, who poked the puck through Roberto Luongo's pads less than 4 minutes in to score in his fourth straight game.

Then with Ehrhoff serving a double-minor for high-sticking, Clowe knocked a rebound of Boyle's point shot past Luongo to make it 2-0 before the midpoint of the period.

Vancouver managed to kill off the second minor but fell even further behind when Marleau blocked Alexander Edler's point shot and then took a feed from Thornton to go in alone to make it 3-0.

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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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Sharks hold off Red Wings

Narrow escape: San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan shouts instructions to his team during Game 7 on Thursday night. San Jose beat Detroit 3-2 to win the Western Conference semifinal series 4-3. AP PHOTO

San Jose, California — For all the blame Patrick Marleau has shouldered for past postseason failures by San Jose, it was only fitting that his winning goal helped the Sharks avoid their biggest collapse yet.

Marleau got his first point of the series when he knocked home a rebound with 7:47 to play and then made the key defensive play in the closing seconds as the Sharks managed to knock out the Detroit Red Wings on their fourth try with a 3-2 victory Thursday night in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

"For him to end up with the winning goal was pretty special for our team and for him," coach Todd McLellan said. "I think the monkey may be off his back for the next series. . . . He was a difference maker tonight."

Devin Setoguchi and Logan Couture scored in the first period and Antti Niemi made 38 saves for the Sharks, who had lost three straight potential clinching games before eliminating the Red Wings for the second straight year in the second round.

San Jose avoided becoming the fourth NHL team to lose a series after winning the first three games. A franchise known for its playoff flops avoided a colossal one and now heads into its second straight Western Conference final.

"There's a lot of doubters who said we probably couldn't do this," captain Joe Thornton said. "But that's two years in a row we beat a pretty good team. We're a pretty good team now, too."

The Sharks get two days off before beginning the conference final Sunday in Vancouver against the Canucks, who also won a Game 7 after blowing a 3-0 lead in the first round against defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Red Wings, who fought valiantly to the end but were unable to complete their bid for an historic feat. Detroit furiously pushed for the tying goal in the frantic final minutes, but couldn't beat Niemi again — even after getting a late power-play chance.

"It's not easy being down 3-0 and having to win four games," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "I felt like we had the upper hand. But you never knew the outcome of any game until the end. At the end, it's still disappointing to win three games and come back here with a chance to win or tie it in the final minutes and then fall short."

The 41-year-old defenseman, who has won four Stanley Cup titles with Detroit, must decide if he wants to come back for a 20th NHL season.

"I'm going to take my time before making a decision," Lidstrom said. "We'll have our meetings and go from there. I'm going to take the whole year into account. I'll take about as much time as last year. I'll meet with the coaching staff. It's been tough the last couple of years."

The much-maligned Marleau, who was called "gutless" by former teammate Jeremy Roenick after Game 5, gave the Sharks the breathing room when he poked a rebound of Setoguchi's shot into an empty net behind Jimmy Howard to give San Jose a 3-1 lead.

But as tough as it was to eliminate the Red Wings in the series, it was just as hard to close out this game. Datsyuk beat Niemi with a great individual effort to make it a one-goal game with 6:01 remaining.

The Sharks had to kill off a power play, when Torrey Mitchell was called for slashing with 5:03 left, to preserve the lead. Niemi then made a stop on a tricky shot by Datsyuk in the final minute.

After a scramble in front of the net, Marleau broke up a scoring chance for Patrick Eaves and then got the final clear, sending the fans into delirium and giving the Sharks their first sense of relief as the clock ran out.

"It was just nice to have it over and have us on top," Marleau said. "They played great the whole way through. It was just nice to be able to shake hands and come back in here."

The Red Wings fell behind 2-0 in the first period but that deficit surely wasn't daunting to a team that overcame a 3-0 hole in the series to force this Game 7.

Detroit dominated the second period despite finishing it without three of its top forwards, with Johan Franzen missing the game with an ankle injury, Todd Bertuzzi getting knocked out in the first period with an upper body injury, and Danny Cleary getting helped to the locker room after appearing to hit his head on the ice after a collision with teammate Jiri Hudler.

"That's a huge chunk of team that was missing," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We would love having some more minutes out of those guys."

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Clowe scores pair as Sharks move out to 3-1 lead on Kings

Diving attempt: San Jose's Jason Demers (left) and Los Angeles' Jarret Stoll vie for the puck in the second period of Game 4 on Thursday night. The Sharks beat the Kings 6-3 to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round series. AP PHOTO

LOS, Angeles — The Sharks and Kings skated through a scoreless opening period. Then Scott Nichol lured Los Angeles star defenseman Drew Doughty off the ice with offsetting roughing penalties, opening the door to three straight goals by San Jose.

The Kings never fully recovered.

Ryane Clowe scored twice, Jason Demers added another goal in the second period and the Sharks won 6-3 on Thursday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

"Nichol is the reason why they won," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "Three goals were directly responsible for Nichol's game."

Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski scored in a 54-second span early in the third and Torrey Mitchell followed with his first goal of the playoffs to extend the Sharks' lead.

"I don't know what it is," Doughty said. "They're scoring easy goals. We're giving them tap-in goals and that's not something we usually do."

The Sharks return to San Jose for Game 5 on Saturday night having swept the Kings on their home ice.

"It's a great opportunity," Clowe said. "You take a 3-1 lead and you're going back to home ice to wrap it up. We should be fired up and we should want to close it out right there."

Los Angeles gave up 12 goals in its two home games.

"That's embarrassing," Jack Johnson said. "We're not going to win a game if they score six goals a game. We're a defensive team and if we're letting in that many goals we're in a lot of trouble."

The Kings had a 5-on-3 for much of the final 3 minutes after Dany Heatley was penalized for tripping and Nichol got a 10-minute misconduct, but they failed to convert. The frustrated Kings got two 10-minute misconducts themselves in the closing seconds.

Blackhawks 5, Canucks 0

In Vancouver, defenseman Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists and Chicago stayed alive in its Stanley Cup title defense, routing Vancouver to cut the Canucks' lead to 3-2 in the first-round series.

Marian Hossa, with his first two goals of the series, and Patrick Kane, with his first, also scored, and rookie Corey Crawford made 36 saves for his first playoff shutout.

Since losing the first three games of the best-of-seven series, the Blackhawks dominated a Canucks team that it eliminated from the playoffs the last two seasons.

Bruins 5, Canadiens 4 (OT)

In Montreal, Michael Ryder scored 1:59 into overtime to give Boston a victory over the Canadiens, tying the Eastern Conference series 2-2.

Ryder, the former Montreal winger who also scored in the second period, took Chris Kelly's pass from behind the net and shot past Carey Price to give Boston its second victory in a row at the Bell Centre after the Bruins dropped the first two games at home.

Kelly brought Boston even for the third time in the game, scoring with 6:18 left in the third period. He put away a loose puck at his feet in the goalmouth for his second of the series.

Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Ference added goals for the Bruins. Tim Thomas made 34 saves.

Michael Cammalleri had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens.

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Sharks spark into life to top stunned Kings

LOS ANGELES — The Kings were cruising along with a four-goal lead. Then came an offensive barrage by the San Jose Sharks so swift and stunning that Los Angeles never could answer.

Settle down: Officials break up a fight between the Blackhawks and Canucks during their playoff game on Tuesday in Chicago. The Blackhawks won 7-2. AP

Devin Setoguchi scored 3:09 into overtime to give the Sharks a 6-5 victory and a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

"This is a game that you don't expect to happen. I don't think it will repeat itself," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "We were very fortunate to come back from that deficit. We're excited about it, but we also know the mulligan we used won't be available to us again."

It was San Jose's second overtime win in three games after taking the series opener 3-2.

Setoguchi's wrist shot beat Jonathan Quick to cap the Sharks' rally from a 4-0 deficit in the second period, when the teams combined for seven goals.

"The second you hang your head and feel sorry for yourself then it turns into six, seven, eight to nothing," Setoguchi said.

"We got that goal in the second period and all of a sudden the light turned on that we can do it, we can get pucks past this guy. We got it deep, worked hard, we beat guys off the wall. We got the second and third opportunities that led to the goals."

Game 4 is Thursday at Staples Center.

After all the scoring in the second period, both teams failed to convert scoring chances in the third, when there were no penalties.

Antero Nittymaki stopped 11 shots after replacing Antti Niemi, who was pulled early in the second after the Kings scored their fourth consecutive goal.

Quick made 30 saves for the Kings, who had no shots in overtime while the Sharks had two.

"It stings right now. We got to let it go right away," Kings defenseman Matt Greene said. "You give yourself tonight, you feel bad about it, but tomorrow's a new day. It would have been the same way if we'd won 4-0. We have to try to get back and get this series tied up."

Patrick Marleau triggered three straight goals and five altogether by the Sharks in the second when he tipped in a shot at 3:08 for his first point of the playoffs. He and Niclas Wallin assisted on Setoguchi's game-winner.

"It's definitely a little bit of a confidence booster for us," Setoguchi said. "They're going to be hungry and they're going to be ready to avenge this game."

Blackhawks 7, Canucks 2

In Chicago, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was asked this week if Dave Bolland should even play against the Canucks with the Blackhawks trailing in the series 3-0.

Why risk using a guy coming off a concussion when the chances of winning a series seemed so bleak?

Bolland provided the answer Tuesday night. Emphatically.

After missing 17 games, the versatile center was more than ready to play and showed what an impact he can have. Bolland scored a goal and had three assists as the defending Stanley Cup champs avoided being swept with a 7-2 win.

"A huge boost," Quenneville said. "We certainly fed off his presence."

With the Canucks still leading 3-1, the opening-round series shifts back to Vancouver's Rogers Arena for Game 5 on Thursday night.

Bolland passed a final physical test Tuesday morning and was cleared to play for the first time since March 9. He said he wasn't that rusty.

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