Canucks sneak opener in ice hockey's Stanley Cup

Vancouver's Raffi Torres scored the only goal with 18.5 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Canucks a 1-0 victory over Boston in game one of the NHL Stanley Cup Final. Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo made 36 saves for his third shutout of this year's playoffs as the Canucks seized the lead in the best-of-seven title series ahead of game two, which will be played Saturday at Vancouver. "It was great," Luongo said. "I thought we were going to play all night the way it was going. It was a huge goal in the final seconds late. It was a great way to start off the series. "To get it done in the dying seconds like that, it's just as good as an over-time win." The Canucks, the NHL's highest-scoring team this season, are trying to claim their first NHL crown and the first by any Canadian club since Montreal in 1993 while the Bruins have not taken the trophy since 1972. Boston goaltender Tim Thomas stopped the first 33 shots he faced and the game appeared set for deadlock after regulation time before the Canucks set up the winner when Ryan Kesler stayed onside and won a puck off the boards. Kesler centered the puck to Jannik Hansen, who flipped the puck to his left to thwart a defender and put the puck on the stick of Torres, who skated in alone on Thomas and put the puck in the back of the net. A physical game produced six power-play opportunities for each side but neither team could capitalize with the man advantage as tempers frayed and checking at times turned to shoving. "Emotions run high. Both teams are fighting hard. That's going to happen," Kesler said. "It was two great teams battling. It was tough out there. It took us more than 59 minutes to score and we were battling all the way." For Luongo, outplaying Thomas and bringing a championship home to Vancouver would be the performance of his lifetime. "I want to go up against him save for save and tonight that's what it came down to," Luongo said. The Canucks have won the opening game of eight consecutive playoff matchups. Canadian cities that have hosted the Olympics have won the NHL title the following year. The Montreal Canadiens did so in 1977 after the city hosted the Summer Olympics and Calgary taking the title in 1989 following its hosting of a Winter Olympics, as Vancouver did last year when Canada won hockey gold.