Reading List: Canucks are in Final; Bruins to join?

We have one-half of this year's pairing for the Stanley Cup Final.

Seventeen years to the day that Greg Adams scored in double overtime to send the Canucks to the 1994 Final, Kevin Bieksa bounced home a fluke goal midway through the second extra period to give the Canucks a 3-2 win against San Jose and their first trip to the Final since 1994.

The Sharks were less than 14 seconds from sending the series back to San Jose for Game 6 before Ryan Kesler tied it by deflecting Henrik Sedin's shot into the net with 13.2 seconds left. Bieksa won it when he picked up a strange carom off the glass and bounced a shot into the net.

The Boston Bruins are hoping to join the Canucks in the Final. They can do so by beating the Lightning in Tampa Bay in Game 6 Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; Versus, CBC, RDS). A win will put the Bruins in the Final for the first time since 1990.

Here's your daily NHL.com Reading List, a set of quick links to some of the stories you won't want to miss:

Goals and wins take away Kesler's pain
Ryan Kesler will be plenty sore when he wakes up today, but he'll have a few days to mend before the Stanley Cup Final begins. Kesler left Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals with what appeared to be a leg injury, but as Dan Rosen writes, he felt well enough to score the tying goal in the final seconds of regulation.

Canucks' big line comes through
The Vancouver Canucks had only one line going in Game 5, but Dave Lozo writes that the Canucks' trio of the Sedin twins and Alexandre Burrows was more than good enough to carry the offense.

Sharks shocked
The San Jose Sharks played their best game of the Western Conference Finals in Game 5 -- they dominated for long stretches, fired 56 shots on goal and led 2-1 with time winding down. Dhiren Mahiban reports that the Sharks were shocked and frustrated when they wound up on the losing end.

Lightning ready to face another elimination game
Dwayne Roloson will be back in goal for Tampa Bay in Game 6 -- a game the Lightning need to win to stay alive. Corey Masisak reports that elimination games are nothing new for either the Lightning or their 41-year-old goaltender.

Bruins' PK doing the job
The Boston Bruins' power play has struggled through three rounds of the playoffs, but the penalty-killers have done yeomen's work in chilling Tampa Bay's extra-man unit, which came into the Eastern Conference Finals as the best in the playoffs. Shawn P. Roarke looks at how they've done it.

Skinner learning by watching
Jeff Skinner and the Carolina Hurricanes didn't make the playoffs, but that doesn't mean the NHL's leading regular-season scorer among rookies hasn't been able to learn from watching what's been going on during the postseason. Greg Picker writes that Skinner has learned a lot by watching some of the NHL's other top young talent during this year's playoffs.