Sharks Vs. Canucks, Game 2: Wild First Period Sees Teams Tied At Two
San Jose received the early powerplay after Aaron Rome took a tripping penalty. The Sharks capitalized as Logan Couture scored his first goal of the series on a forehand deke that got Roberto Luongo moving which gave Couture an open side of the net. Assists on the goal came from Dany Heatley and Ian White. Heatley and Couture were two players that coach Todd McLellan called out this morning that needed to step up.
Ben Eager got the second good chance the Sharks had at the four minute mark of the period as he banged one off the post. Eager found room in the slot area in front of the net and got the puck off of a rebound and ripped a forehand shot past Luongo that luckily for the goaltender found the post instead of the back of the net.
The Canucks started to gain some offensive momentum with thirteen minutes left in the period as Maxim Lapierre, Sami Salo, and Alex Burrows each got a quality shot on Antti Niemi within a minute of each other. Niemi made quality saves on each shot though and slowed the Canucks offense slightly as he gathered any possible rebound and forced whistles on each of the shots.
The Canucks got their first powerplay opportunity of the game at the 7:47 mark of the period as Joe Pavelski tripped Daniel Sedin as Sedin was trying to move the puck along the boards near the Vancouver benches. Sedin then made the Sharks pay as he knuckled a shot under the arm of Antti Niemi to tie the game at one goal each.
Raffi Torres quickly gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead 39 seconds after Sedin scored on the powerplay as Torres redirected a pass from Christian Ehrhoff to beat Niemi. Ehrhoff was skating behind the net and found an open Torres right in front of the crease.
Daniel Sedin took his first penalty of the game at the 12:19 mark on a cross checking penalty as he and Joe Thornton came together in the corner as each was going for the puck. Patrick Marleau scored as Roberto Luongo made another miscue as he brought the puck toward himself to cover for a rebound and the puck went between his legs and crossed the line before Luongo could cover the puck. It's the second miscue Luongo has done in two games as he passed the puck to Joe Thornton in Game 1 to give the Sharks an early lead.
The Sharks started the period with some better offensive chances and even had a 7-3 advantage in shots within the first seven minutes. The Canucks were able to counter those chances with some powerplays and the two teams finished the period with 13 shots each.
