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Canucks march to the box in first period, lock up Sharks at 0-0

Antti Niemi, Mason Raymond

Vancouver Canucks left wing Mason Raymond (21) is unable to score against San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Western Conference finals on Sunday, May 22, 2011, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

AP

The first period ended in a conveniently consistent way: by a bottom-six Vancouver Canucks forward taking an unnecessary penalty. This time around it was Raffi Torres getting whistled for a comically obvious charge, which will give the San Jose Sharks a full two minute power play to begin the second period.

San Jose 0, Vancouver 0 (end of first)

On the bright side, the Canucks played a more passionate game of hockey through the first 20 minutes. They’re gathering speed nicely through the neutral zone, winning a lot of puck battles and just seem to be honed-in on Game 4. Unfortunately, they couldn’t match their aggressiveness with attention to detail, taking four penalties including that final Torres charge.

As Mike Milbury and Pierre McGuire pointed out, Alain Vigneault made a blunder by putting Tanner Glass out on the ice to start things off. Glass took the first of his two dumb penalties just 26 seconds into the game, putting a dangerous Sharks power play on the ice less than a minute into the game.

Roberto Luongo was strong in that first period, making 10 saves to help Vancouver maintain a tie through the first period, the type of result a road team cannot complain about in the playoffs. Antti Niemi survived what was probably the most dangerous moment of the first 20 minutes by stopping two shots that resulted from a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush during that first power play.

The Sharks must be disappointed that they squandered some nice opportunities on the power play while the Canucks once again find themselves dealing with some discipline issues. We’ll see how both teams respond to their own issues in the second period and beyond.

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