59 minutes and 41 seconds were what it took to decide the outcome of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena.
The first two periods saw a total of 12 power plays. Both Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas were human shields, stopping a combined total of 46 shots through the first forty minutes.
It took an empty net for someone to score, and that’s exactly what Ryan Kesler, Jannik Hansen, and Raffi Torres did with 20 seconds left in the game. Just as fans were thinking the game was going to go into overtime, Kesler managed to grab a pass from Kevin Bieksa. Getting the puck in the zone he passed to Hansen. Torres had just come on in a late line change, getting ahead of Boston’s Johnny Boychuk, accepting the pass from Hansen and sliding it in. Thomas didn’t even see Torres coming; he was on the other side of the net covering Hansen.
Next game happens Saturday, June 4th at Rogers Arena. Puck drops at 5pm PDT!