Canucks take the lead in the Stanley cup Finals thanks to Torres’s late goal

02 Jun 2011 | Petr Polák

No goals were seen in the first game this season’s NHL final series between Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins until the end of the game. In the seconds when spectators started to think about some refreshments before the overtime Canucks’ joker Raffi Torres scored a game-winning goal 19 seconds before the horn.

The two first periods were filled more with penalties on both sides than with goal chances. The Bruins were unable to use any of the power play that they played. For example at the game start they received a 4-minutes long power play for Daniel Sedin’s high sticking on Chára but the Boston elite power play line wasn’t able to change the pressure in goal as well as it wasn’t during a 2-man power play in the start of the second.

The Canucks weren’t better in playing power play at all. None of the three penalties for Krejčí, Seidenberg and Bergeron fouls were used to score a goal, and when Vancouver took a 2-man power play, Burrows ended it just after 8 seconds of a play with his foul.

The third period finally brought 5-on-5 play. With time running, the Canucks were more and more dangerous for the Bruins goalie Thomas. He could be glad he withstood three big Vancouver opportunities without a goal in his net: Hansen’s breakaway, Lepierre’s goal chance, and especially Edler’s hard shot into the post.

It looked like there would be overtime necessary in Rogers Arena during the last minute of the third, but the puck was coming to Raffi Torres’s stick after a nice Hansen pass. Torres just put his stick into the puck’s way and scored the only goal of a game at 59:41.

Vancouver took the lead in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals over the Bruins 1-0.