Stanley Cup finals, Game 1: Raffi Torres lifts Canucks to 1-0 victory over Bruins

With overtime a near-certainty in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, Raffi Torres scored with 19 seconds left in the third period to give the Vancouver Canucks a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins Wednesday at Rogers Arena.

The crowd erupted in roars after Torres got the puck past an otherwise splendid Tim Thomas, set up perfectly by Jannik Hansen and the always gritty Ryan Kesler.

The goal ended a penalty-filled game that produced many good scoring chances but no goals until Torres beat Thomas from about 15 feet out. Roberto Luongo stopped 36 Boston shots to earn the shutout. Thomas stopped 33 shots.

The Canucks have won the opening game of each of their four playoff series this spring. Another good omen for them: Teams winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win the championship in 55 of 71 seasons (77%) since the NHL introduced the best-of-seven format in 1939.

The Canucks, who had to juggle their lineup to accommodate injuries all season, lost defenseman Dan Hamhuis four minutes into the second period to an undisclosed injury. Hamhuis, poised and steady, had flipped Boston’s Milan Lucic in a textbook hip check but appeared to have been hurt on the play.

The Canucks will have a few days to figure out what to do, given that Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday in Vancouver.

We'll have more on the game soon at latimes.com/sports

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Despite Stanley Cup drought, Canada isn't fully embracing the Canucks

-- Helene Elliott in Vancouver, Canada

Photo: Vancouver's Raffi Torres, center right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal in the closing seconds of the Canucks' 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday. Credit: Andy Clark / Reuters

Stanley Cup finals, Game 1: Boston 0, Vancouver 0 after two periods

The second period was much like the first: scoreless and with a succession of strange penalties being called.

But the Canucks suffered a potentially damaging blow when defenseman Dan Hamhuis suffered an apparent injury while hip-checking Boston's Milan Lucic early in the period. Hamhuis didn't return and no injury report was available.

The Bruins started the period with a power play as the result of a scrum at the end of the first period. Alex Burrows, who appeared to bite the gloved fingers of Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, got a double minor for roughing while Bergeron got only a minor penalty. When Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa was sent off for high-sticking at 28 seconds the Bruins had a five-on-three advantage but wasted it.

The Canucks later had a five-on-three but only briefly, and they, too, couldn’t do much, though Tim Thomas made an excellent save on a wraparound attempt by Maxim Lapierre just over 13 minutes into the period.

Through two periods the Bruins had a 26-20 lead in shots on goal and each team had squandered six power plays.

Check back later for more from Rogers Arena.

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Despite Stanley Cup drought, Canada isn't fully embracing the Canucks

-- Helene Elliott in Vancouver, Canada

Photo: Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, left, checks Vancouver defenseman Dan Hamhuis during the second period of Wednesday's game. Credit: Darryl Dyck / Associated Press

Stanley Cup finals: Bruins 0, Canucks 0 after first period

The lively crowd was worked up into a frenzy before the game, and that energy carried over to the players' benches. The scoreless first period was played at a rapid pace and with some crunching hits.

The first period was scoreless and ended with a scrum that took a while to break up. Each team had chances on the power play but couldn’t convert, a familiar refrain for the Bruins -- who were five for 61 with the man advantage during the first three rounds -- and less familiar for the Canucks, who had been 17 for 60 (28.3%) before Wednesday’s game.

The Bruins were scoreless in three advantages, including during a double-minor penalty called against Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin for high-sticking Zdeno Chara at 4:03. Boston had five minutes 31 seconds’ worth of power-play time. The Canucks had two advantages and 3:31 of power-play time.

Any thoughts that the teams would be cautious at the start were quickly banished by Vancouver's clever counterattacks and Boston's verve.

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 17 shots and Boston’s Tim Thomas stopped 12.

The Bruins were credited with 15 hits, to 11 by the Canucks.

Check back later for more from Rogers Arena.

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Despite Stanley Cup drought, Canada isn't fully embracing the Canucks

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-- Helene Elliott in Vancouver, Canada

Photo: Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara collides with Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo during the first period June 1, 2011. Credit: Ben Nelms/Reuters