{allcanada} Canucks get even, force Game 2 of finals to OT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—Alex Burrows scored Vancouver's first goal and set up Daniel Sedin's(notes) tying tally midway through the third period as the Canucks rallied to get even with the Boston Bruins and force Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals into overtime on Saturday night.

Milan Lucic(notes) scored Boston's first goal of the series nine minutes in and Mark Recchi(notes) added another 2:35 later to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead through two periods.

But Vancouver's top line, quiet most of the night after being shut out in Game 1, tied the game after two straight dominant shifts. Sedin started the play by winning the puck from Boston's best defenseman, Zdeno Chara(notes), and getting it back to Alex Edler at the point. Edler's shot was knocked down in front, and Burrows slid the puck across to Sedin in the right circle for an easy shot past sprawled goalie Tim Thomas(notes).

Thomas made 30 saves through regulation, including a spectacular left-to-right stop to take an empty net away from Jannik Hansen(notes) with six minutes left in the second.

The Bruins are trying to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole in the series. Only four of 46 teams have overcome such a deficit to win the finals. Boston will host Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday.

Burrows was in danger of being suspended for this game after he appeared to bite the gloved finger of Boston forward Patrice Bergeron(notes) during a scrum in Vancouver s 1-0 win in the series opener. He avoided further punishment and scored at the end of what had been an ineffective power play with 7:48 left in the first period. Burrows took a short pass—more like a handoff—from Chris Higgins(notes) at the left faceoff dot and snapped a quick shot that caught Thomas by surprise for his eighth goal of the playoffs.

Lucic tied it off a rebound on the slot, sliding the loose puck just under the extended right pad of Roberto Luongo(notes), whose shutout streak ended at 137 minutes, 26 seconds. That run dated to the third period of Vancouver's double-overtime win in Game 5 over San Jose that ended the Western Conference finals.

Recchi added his first goal in 12 games on a redirection as the Bruins' sluggish power play connected for just the sixth time in the playoffs—and the second time in 34 chances on the road.

Boston moved the 6-foot-9 Chara away from the net and back to the point, and his long wrist shot was deflected by the 43-year-old Recchi over Luongo as the Bruins backed up their pledge of getting more traffic in front after they were shut out in the opener.

Luongo, who made 36 saves in Game 1, stopped 28 shots through regulation on Saturday.

Thomas broke Andy Moog's club record for minutes played in a playoff season, pushing his total to 1204 minutes by the end of the first period Saturday. Moog played 1196 minutes in 1990, the last time the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup finals.

The Canucks got a boost from the return of Manny Malhotra(notes) almost three months after a deflected puck hit him in the left eye, threatening both his career and vision. But Vancouver was forced to play without shutdown defenseman Dan Hamhuis(notes), who was hurt while throwing a low hit on Lucic in Game 1.

Andrew Alberts(notes) took Hamhuis' spot in the lineup, playing just his fourth game of the playoffs ahead of Keith Ballard(notes), a $4.2-million healthy scratch. Alberts played along Christian Ehrhoff(notes), who failed to tie up Lucic in the slot as the Bruins' top line with David Krejci(notes) and Nathan Horton(notes) took advantage of not facing Hamhuis.

Malhotra, who hadn't played since being hit in the eye on March 16, received a rousing ovation before the game. Chants of "Manny, Manny" broke out when he took his first shift on the fourth line 1:48 in, beating Chris Kelly(notes) on a faceoff.

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