Patrick Marleau scored twice in the first period, while
Antti Niemi made 27 saves, and the Sharks capitalized on 10 power-play chances.
"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 won 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.
Vancouver nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit,
thanks to a five-minute boarding call that led to power-play goals from Dan
Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa to cut San Jose's lead to 4-3 with 3:56 remaining.
Alexandre Burrows had also scored in the period.
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.
"We were pretty disciplined," Vigneault said.
"So if I were to comment on what I think of the penalties, I'd 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.
Urged on by their boisterous fans, 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.
Marleau has five goals in four games after failing to
post a point in the first six games against Detroit. The turnaround came
shortly after former teammate Jeremy Roenick called him "gutless" on
national television.
"Things are just starting to go in," Marleau said.
"I'm playing with some pretty good players. Just getting into some good
areas. The puck is starting to go in." The Sharks maintained the
three-goal lead even when the Canucks applied some late pressure, with Niemi
making two tough stops against Jannik Hansen in the closing minute of the first
period.
"Their goals took the momentum right out of the game
for us," Canucks center Ryan Kesler said. "When you go down 3-nil in
the first it's tough and we have to learn from that." The Sharks
maintained that three-goal buffer in a tense second period.
Even when the Canucks got a chance with a man - or even
two-man - advantage, they struggled to beat Niemi.
During one stretch 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.
"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."
