VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Todd McLellan gave a bit of an explanation as to why Joe Thornton was named the Sharks' captain prior to this season when he was asked a question about Jumbo Joe on Monday.

Here is what he had to say:

"I thought last year he showed real good signs of growth, the ability to lead the team. As a result when we were looking at our vacant captaincy, he proved to us in the playoffs last year that he was a real good candidate. We picked him and throughout the year he's had an excellent season. Many will say his numbers are down, which they obviously are, but ultimately I think the results are up when you look at Jumbo's play. That may sound strange, but I truly believe he's come a long way. His leadership ability in the locker room is very strong. I think he does it as much by example now on the ice as he does it verbally in the locker room, so he's come a long, long way."

Thornton had a goal and an assist in Game 1 and now has 13 points in 14 playoff games this season. He finished the regular season with 70 points in 80 games, his lowest offensive output since he had 68 points in 2001-02 with the Bruins.

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VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Daniel Sedin watched Ryan Kesler try to skate over Douglas Murray in Game 1. He had to cringe when he saw Kesler get stood up like he was skating into a tank.

Sedin recalls playing with Murray in Sweden when the two were younger. Daniel was smaller, but Murray?

"Big. He was a man was he was 12," Daniel said Monday. "He was a big guy back then, too."

And knew how to inflict some pain even without trying, sort of like he does now, or like he did to Kesler on Sunday.

"How much does he weigh, 300 pounds?" Daniel said jokingly of Murray, who checks in at 6-3 and 240 pounds. "He's a big guy and he uses that to his advantage. I think it hurts every time you run into him. It doesn't have to be a big hit on him to get hurt."
 
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Sean Bergenheim, Dominic Moore and Steve Downie have combined for 12 goals and 30 points in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They haven't been just the most productive third line in this postseason -- they're one of the top lines period. The Sedin twins and Alexandre Burrows, Vancouver's top line, also have combined for 12 goals and 30 points -- though they've had two more games to do so.

San Jose's most-frequent trio at even strength has been Ryan Clowe, Logan Couture and Dany Heatley. They have combined for 13 goals and 33 points, but again in two more games than Tampa Bay has played.

One of Boston's top two lines -- Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi -- has combined for 9 goals and 30 points. The other, David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton has 12 goals and 25 points.

Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher mixes and matches with his lines so much that none of them have stayed together for as much ice time as the top lines from the other three semifinalists, but he's found a dynamic trio in Moore, Bergenheim and Downie.

So the question moving forward is this -- do the Lightning now expect this consistent offensive production from what is a supposed to be a defense-first unit?

"You have to watch out because you don't want to expect it," Boucher said. "Their role is always hustling and great defensive play. I did talk to them about it already and not just today but in previous days. I think it is important for players to understand that you need to play within our strengths as a team and as individuals too. If you lose your strengths, eventually whatever else you are doing well is going to fade away."

Added Moore: "I don't think it is a case where we are worried about that. We've played our game from the first game and we'll continue to play our game -- whether it is producing point-wise or not. I think we make contributions regardless."

Bergeheim leads all NHL players in this postseason with 8 goals. There are only seven players with more points than Downie's 12 and only one with a better plus-minus rating than his plus-9.

Then there is Moore, who Boucher called "the ghost" on that line because he does a lot of the work and the other two have ended up getting a lot of the credit. Part of the reason why they have become such a dangerous trio is they haven't tried to change the way they play despite the explosion of offensive success.
 
"It is important for the Bergenheims and the Moores and Downies to understand that hustling, not being a liability defensively, being first on pucks, the way they battle and bulldoze around the net is key to our team -- not just because they score goals but because they inspire the rest of the team also," Boucher said. "They could not score for the next four games and still do their jobs, just like [Steven] Stamkos last game blocking some shots. He didn't get a goal, but he filled his role as a guy who's trying to win. I think that's more important."

Saint John Sea Dogs center Jonathan Huberdeau continued his superb play in the Quebec Major Junior League Playoffs on Sunday when he struck for a goal and one assist to lead his team to its first President's Cup with a 3-2 double overtime decision over the Gateneau Olmpiques in Game 6 of the best-of-7 series at Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau.

The victory sends the Sea Dogs, a 4-2 series winner over Gatineau, into the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Mississauga, Ont., from May 20-29. Saint John will open the tournament against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on May 20 at 7 p.m. ET. The Sea Dogs, who are in their sixth year of existence, will look to become the ninth QMJHL team to win the championship.

The Kootenay Ice, who scored a five-game series victory over the Portland Winterhawks in its league championship series, also qualified for the Memorial Cup and will play OHL champion Owen Sound Attack on May 21 at 7 p.m. ET.

Kootenay goalie Nathan Lieuwen, who was named series MVP, stopped 26 shots in a 4-1 Game 5 triumph on Friday for his 16th win of the playoffs. Lieuwen, born August '91, is in his third season with Kootenay and is eligible for the 2011 Entry Draft.

Owen Sound, meanwhile, scored a 3-2 OT victory over Mississauga in Game 7 of the Robertson Cup Final on Sunday before a sold out Hershey Centre crowd of 5,517. Owen Sound's Robby Mignardi earned the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as Playoff MVP with 15 goals and 9 assists for 24 points in 22 postseason games. Mignardi, born June 1990, is in his third and final year of eligibility for the Entry Draft.

Huberdeau, rated No. 3 by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters eligible for the 2011 Entry Draft, sent Game 6 to overtime by scoring with just 23 seconds left on the clock. In the second OT, Alexandre Beauregard scored the decisive goal for the Sea Dogs, who have all 10 of their road games in the playoffs this season.

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks opened up the Western Conference Finals with a 3-2 win at Rogers Arena on Sunday night.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Hit:
Vancouver out-hit San Jose by a 38-26 margin, with the biggest one going to Chris Higgins in the middle period. The Canucks' forward, who has been limping all week as a result of blocking a shot off his left foot, caught Joe Pavelski with a huge hit just outside the Sharks blue line. Pavelski appeared to be struggling to gain control of the puck when he was run over by Higgins. Higgins finished the night tied for a team-high five hits. 

The Turning Point:
With about three minutes remaining in the second period the Canucks had a number of chances in-close on Antti Niemi, including Ryan Kesler, who could not get the puck past Niemi's right pad. Despite not scoring, the flurry, which generated seven shots for Vancouver, turned the tide of the game. The Canucks went on to score twice in a 1:19 span of the third to seal a come from behind victory.

The Save:
Despite being out-shot 38-20 by the Canucks, the biggest save of the night belonged to Niemi. After Kesler failed the find the back of the net late in the second with Niemi down and out, Raffi Torres hit Jannik Hansen with a perfect pass; however, Niemi managed to get his left pad on the Canucks' forward's shot, preserving the Sharks 2-1 lead at the time.

The Quote:
"It started with the ears and worked all the way through the body. We were like dogs chasing cars down the freeway."

-- Sharks coach Todd McLellan on the fatigue his team faced in the third

Player of the Game:
For all the criticism he faced in the second round when he scored just a single goal (an empty-netter at that), Canucks captain Henrik Sedin looked like his old self Sunday night picking up the game-winner.  Henrik received a pass from Christian Ehrhoff as he was cutting across the net and beat Niemi -- who was down and out -- with a backhand shot for the eventual game-winner.  Henrik finished the night with a goal and an assist and won 12-of-17 draws in the face-off circle.

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- San Jose has one big change in its lineup for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals as defenseman Kent Huskins has drawn back in and will play for the first time since Feb. 19. Huskins had been considered a healthy scratch in the playoffs save for Game 1 of the first round against Los Angeles.

Jason Demers is instead scratched for the Sharks. Demers, who played in all 13 games of the first round, was not on the ice for pre-game warm-ups. He had 2 goals and an assist over the first two rounds. Huskins will be paired with Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Not surprisingly due to the potential physicality in this series and the size of the Sharks' forwards, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault has inserted Victor Oreskovich into the lineup for fourth-line duty with Cody Hodgson and Tanner Glass. Oreskovich last played in Game 2 against Nashville.

Oreskovich is playing instead of the injured Mikael Samuelsson and in place of the smaller Jeff Tambellini, who played in Game 6 against Nashville and likely would have been in if the Canucks were playing Detroit instead of the Sharks. Oreskovich is 6-3 and 215 pounds so his size and physicality could prove valuable against San Jose.

San Jose is keeping a bigger lineup up front as well and will use Jamal Mayers and Ben Eager on the fourth line with Scott Nichol.

Of course, Roberto Luongo will start in Vancouver's net and Antti Niemi will do the same for San Jose.

Here are the lines, defensive pairings and goaltenders from pre-game warm-ups:

SAN JOSE

Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Devin Setoguchi
Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Dany Heatley
Torrey Mitchell - Joe Pavelski - Kyle Wellwood
Ben Eager - Scott Nichol - Jamal Mayers

Dan Boyle - Douglas Murray
Ian White - Niclas Wallin
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Kent Huskins

Antti Niemi
Antero Niittymaki

VANCOUVER

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alex Burrows
Mason Raymond - Ryan Kesler - Chris Higgins
Raffi Torres - Maxim Lapierre - Jannik Hansen
Tanner Glass - Cody Hodgson - Victor Oreskovich

Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alex Edler - Sami Salo
Aaron Rome - Christian Ehrhoff

Roberto Luongo
Cory Schneider

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Sunday, Claude Julien reaffirmed that rookie Tyler Seguin was one of the best players on the ice for Boston in Saturday's Game 1 loss.

Seguin had a goal and an assist in the 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning and displayed his world-class skills on the first-period goal. He used an absolutely sick move to beat Tampa defenseman Mike Lundin and then used a quick shot to beat Dwayne Roloson to the far post.

Sounds like just the type of skill set that could help out a Boston power play that finished 0-for-4 in Game 1 and is now just 2-for-41 in the postseason, doesn't it?

Well, Julien said he had no real inclination Saturday night to include Seguin on either man-advantage unit, not even after Boston failed to gain the offensive zone on the first power-play opportunity of the night.

Sunday, Claude Julien admitted what has been painfully obvious to most observers of the Bruins this postseason: Defenseman Tomas Kaberle is struggling.

Kaberle, obtained from Toronto near this year's trade deadline to help Boston with its power play and its transition game, has done precious little of either this postseason.

Boston's power play is historically bad, going just 2-for-41 in the first dozen games of this postseason. Kaberle has been a huge part of that downfall, making some questionable decisions at the point and often refusing to shoot when the opportunity presents itself. Saturday night, in the game 1 loss, he did take two shots from the point on the power play and each was well wide.

Earlier in the game, Kaberle made an egregious turnover behind his own net which led to Teddy Purcell's goal, the last in a game-changing run of three goals in 85 seconds by the Lightning.

After the game, Kaberle insisted he was not gripping his stick extra hard or feeling the pressure of being expected to perform better. But, on Sunday, Julien suggested otherwise about the veteran defenseman.

"There is no doubt he is pressing a little bit," Julien said. "I would say that because he knows what is expected of him and he knows what is being said about him; he knows all that stuff. At one point, you hope that he is capable of focusing on just doing the job, and we have confidence in him and we are going to work with him for him to get better, because we are going to need him to play at his best if we plan on moving on here and winning some hockey games."

The Boston Bruins were clearly frustrated by Tampa Bay's ability to shackle their offense Saturday in the 5-2 loss in game 1 of the eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden.

Nobody, however, wore his anger more openly than the always combustible Brad Marchand.

In the second period, Marchand exploded in rage for everyone to see. In the midst of a frustrating evening that would see him finish with no shots and a minus-2 rating, Marchand shattered his stick, taking to healthy whacks to make the stick finally crack.

"It wasn't good enough the first time I did it, so I had to do it again," he said of his stick-swinging exploits. "I had a lot of frustration built up. I wanted to be a factor out there and it wasn't happen and it just got to me."

That, however, can't happen at this stage of the playoffs. You can't give another team the satisfaction of seeing frustration take hold. It is a sight that will merely embolden the opponent to do more of the same, knowing that it has tangible results.

According to coach Claude Julien, the outburst has already been addressed.

"That's something we don't like to see and we don't want to see; but he is a first-year player, he is a rookie and he is certainly learning," Julien said. He is going to be the first one to tell you that he is learning as he goes along here. And you can't allow yourself to get frustrated; you have to battle through things. We just showed a little bit of frustration and I'm sure you are not going to see that again.

Julien was not the only one delivering that message. Many of Boston's vets were doing the same, talking to some of the younger Bruins during and after the game.

"It's pretty early to be frustrated," Boston defenseman Andrew Ference said Sunday. "It's just wasted energy. It's addressed right away by whoever is sitting beside them, definitely in the lockerroom afterwards. It's not about showing emotion. You can have emotion, have fire and be mad about things; but in the playoffs – especially this far in – you have to know how to direct your energy and use it wisely. If you are yelling at Refs or slapping things around, you're not using your resources wisely."

Marchand, for one says he got the message loud and clear.

"I was a little frustrated there, and I reacted in a way that I shouldn't have," Marchand said Sunday "It was selfish and it brought a lot of negative energy to the team at the wrong point. (Claude) recognized that. He's upset about that because he knows I'm better than that. He knows that I can control my emotions better than that. I can't be getting off my game. I need to be getting teams off their games."

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The Canucks scored the game-winning goals in Games 3, 4 and 6 against Nashville on the power play.

San Jose's 51 power play opportunities are the most of any team in through two rounds.

The Canucks killed off 20 of 21 penalties against Nashville and finished the regular season with the League's third-ranked penalty kill and No. 1 power play.

San Jose was No. 2.

Yes, special teams will be huge in the Western Conference Finals. If one team gains the edge on both ends, it will probably advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

"They've got a lot of skill up front and they've got (Dan) Boyle on 'D', and he's one of the best power play defensemen in the League," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said Sunday morning. "It's obviously not something I'd like to do, give them a lot of power plays."

The Sharks have converted only seven of their 51 power plays for a 13.7-percent success rate that is 13th in the NHL. The Canucks have allowed the opposition 50 power play chances, so the Sharks are likely going to get their share in this series as well and they have to be better.

"When you look at it from a numbers perspective, the 13 percent, 14 percent or wherever we're at, not very impressive," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "When you look at the goals we scored, the power play (goals), you have to be pretty pleased. It's won us some games, allowed us to move on."

Vancouver has converted on eight of 36 power plays, but just one of 18 on its home ice. San Jose has had its own discipline problems and has given up the opposition 52 power play chances. The Canucks need to take advantage, but they also need to keep the chances against down. They've given up a League-worst three shorthanded goals.

"I'm a big believer that when you close a series and you move on, you start with fresh numbers," McLellan said. "We have a huge challenge ahead of us, because they're a very good penalty-killing team, obviously the best in the League. We expect our power play to have an impact on the series."

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