Canucks dunk Sharks 3-2 in Game One

Everybody had a plan. Some were kept quiet and others were quite obvious.

In the opening volley of the Western Conference final series, the margin of error was so minimal that mistakes were greatly magnified Sunday at Rogers Arena. And in the end, the Vancouver Canucks committed fewer gaffes and rallied for a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks that made you wonder if they had the better plan. They must have.

The Canucks had planned to tap the brain of former Sharks defenceman Christian Ehrhoff and it paid off in the winning goal. He smartly spotted Henrik Sedin cutting across the slot and the captain calmly slid a power-play backhander past a sprawling Antti Niemi at 8:21 of the third period to snap a 2-2 deadlock. There was more. The Canucks also planned to get their mobile defence involved. And that reaped rewards when a streaking Kevin Bieksa took a cross-ice feed from Alex Burrows and buried a shot less than two minutes earlier to erase a 2-1 deficit that looked like it would stand for too long. Bieksa also got the puck up high over Niemi’s shoulder which, of course, was another plan. So was getting more from Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

"It’s tough to come back in this league," said Henrik. "We made a great push and showed a lot of courage in the third. Christian made a great play to me. I thought he was going to shoot the puck and it was a great saucer pass. An easy play."

There was nothing easy about this victory.

After Patrick Marleau tipped a Dan Boyle power-play point shot past Roberto Luongo in the second period to provide a 2-1 lead, at least the light bulb went on for the Canucks. After all, the Sharks were operating at a pitiful 13.7 per cent on their playoff power play, but were 6-0 in the postseason when they managed to score with the man advantage. So, the plan was simple. Attack. Attack. Attack.

In a wild scramble around Niemi late in the second period, Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, Chris Higgins and Alex Edler were all involved. Raymond took a whack and forced Niemi to get a pad on his effort, Kesler did the same and Higgins was looking for the loose disc too before Edler sent a backhander that Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked. Niemi then got a left pad on a Hansen shot. The Canucks didn’t score, but momentum swung.

"We kept pushing them back and getting in on the forecheck and we were going to get the goal and they were going to crack," Burrows said of out shooting the Sharks 13-7 in the third period and 38-29 overall. "We had all the emotions and were pushing with that emotion."

It paid off. The Canucks scored twice in a span of 1:19 of the third period as Bieksa first put in the dagger before Henrik gave it a twist.

"We felt like we were wearing them down a bit and I just came late on the play and with his great vision, Burr found me," said Bieksa. "We have six guys who can jump up into the play and we feel we can do it by committee. It was the right time."

The Sharks had a plan for Luongo. Sharp-angle shots. Knock the stick out of his hands. And let him handle the puck. It started with Ben Eager, Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski taking successive sharp-angle shots that Luongo has struggled with in the postseason. It continued with Scott Nichol purposely knocking the stick out of Luongo’s hands behind the net to unnerve the goalie. And then it happened, the play that would have dominated the highlight reels if not for the spirited comeback.

A room-service giveaway to Joe Thornton when Luongo attempted to play the puck behind his net to open scoring late in the first period looked like the Sharks knew exactly what they were doing and looked like Luongo didn’t have a clue what he was doing. He could have left the puck for Dan Hamhuis, but tried to play it to the defenceman. And as if he knew to sit back, Thornton jumped on the failed attempt and whipped a wrister through a sprawling Hamhuis and between the goalie’s legs.

But the Canucks kept going to the net. They called a team meeting in Niemi’s crease and it worked when Maxim Lapierre went boldly to the the goalie’s porch and pounded a neat Jannik Hansen feed from behind the net home early in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit. As the game wore on, the Sharks looked worn out and the failed second-period flurry by the Canucks simply set the stage for a stronger final period.

"We didn’t have it in the third," admitted Sharks coach Todd McLellan. "We were tired and looked sluggish. There are times when we lose our legs, but our minds are still pretty sharp. And I didn’t think that was the case tonight. It started between the ears and it worked through the body. We were like dogs chasing cars on the freeway. We weren’t catching anybody and put pucks in very poor spots.

"They beat us at the type of game we wanted to play. We wanted to lay it in behind and sustain offensive time. They wore us down."

However, it’s what the Canucks didn’t do that nearly cost them.

The power play was supposed to be the difference. Play hard enough and long enough and the surely the Sharks would take penalties. They did, but it wasn’t until Henrik finally scored in the third that it helped cover up the blemish. The Canucks had zero shots on their first power play and only two on their second. It was if the plan was no plan. Take too long getting organized and leave the puck for Kesler to do his best Bobby Orr and try and wind his way through the neutral zone to gain the blueline. Looks pretty. But it isn’t effective.

Then again, when Daniel blocked a shot with six minutes left as the Canucks were clinging to their lead, the best plan was executed. Do everything and anything to win.

"The last 25 minutes, we played our best," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. "We went north-south real quickly. We made their defence turn back and go for pucks and created turnovers off that. It led to time in their end and good quality time."