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Canucks welcome Sharks for Game 1 of West finals

May 15, 2011 - 3:39 PM (Sports Network) - The Western Conference finals will begin tonight in Vancouver, as the top-seeded Canucks host the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 at Rogers Arena.

The Sharks are back in the conference finals for a second straight year after outlasting Detroit in seven games in Round 2, while Vancouver is making its first trip to the conference finals since 1994.

Both San Jose and the Canucks also survived blowing 3-0 series leads to get to this stage. Vancouver squandered a 3-0 edge against Chicago in the opening round before taking Game 7 over the Blackhawks in overtime. In the conference semifinal round, the Sharks won the first three games against Detroit, but wound up having to win Game 7 to get back to the West finals.

After getting a scare from the Blackhawks in the first round, the conference semifinals went a bit smoother for the Canucks, who ousted Nashville in six games to move one step away from the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994. Back in '94, Vancouver ousted Toronto for the Western Conference title before losing to the New York Rangers in seven games for the right to lift Lord Stanley's Cup.

San Jose, meanwhile, has never made the Stanley Cup Finals before and they have a dismal 2-8 record in 10 all-time conference finals games. The Sharks lost in six games to Calgary in the 2004 West finals and were swept last year by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.

The Sharks and Canucks have never faced each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Vancouver boasts a deep offense, but goals have not been easy to come by for the Canucks so far in this postseason. Vigneault's squad has recorded 30 goals in 13 games for a pedestrian average of 2.31 tallies per contest. Conversely, Vancouver has surrendered an average of 2.54 goals per game this postseason.

The Canucks best offensive player in Round 2 was Ryan Kesler, who torched the Predators for five goals, including two game-winners, and finished with 11 points over the six games.

Kesler is the spark on Vancouver's potent second line, which also features wingers Mason Raymond and Chris Higgins. The 27-year-old American centerman is leading all Canucks with 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in this postseason and is also tops on the team with a plus-six rating.

Raymond and Higgins have five and four points, respectively, in this year's playoffs.

While Kesler's line ended the last round firing on all cylinders, the Canucks' top unit, which features the Sedin twins and Alexandre Burrows, did not have a good series against Nashville. Henrik Sedin led the trio with one goal and three assists, while his brother Daniel and Burrows added three and two points, respectively.

Canucks forward Mikael Samuelsson, who has one goal and two assists this postseason, is expected to miss tonight's game with a lower-body injury.

Vancouver also boasts considerable depth on defense and the club's goaltender Roberto Luongo is one of three finalists for this year's Vezina Trophy. Overall, Luongo is 8-5 with two shutouts and a 2.25 goals-against average in this postseason. He is 25-22 all-time in 47 career postseason contests -- all of which have come during his time in Vancouver.

San Jose's scoring depth was not evident in last year's conference finals against Chicago, as the Sharks managed just seven goals over the four losses. The Sharks are averaging 2.92 goals per game in this year's playoffs, recording 38 tallies in 13 tests.

Although the Sharks boast stars like Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau at their disposal, the two most productive forwards for Todd McLellan's club this spring have been the lesser known Ryane Clowe and rookie Logan Couture.

Clowe is a physical player in the power forward mold and he is leading the Sharks this postseason with 13 points on four goals and nine assists. The 28- year-old also has a plus-six rating and 18 penalty minutes in 12 playoff games.

Couture is a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie, but the 22-year-old is in his second NHL postseason. The ninth overall pick of the 2007 draft, Couture had four goals in last year's playoffs. He is second on the club with 12 points this spring and is tied for the team lead with six goals.

Of the stars mentioned above, Thornton is having the best 2011 postseason. San Jose's captain has 11 points and the world-class playmaker has a team-high nine assists. Both of Thornton's goals were game-winners.

Antti Niemi has had an up-and-down spring in net for San Jose, but the second- year backstop has still never lost an NHL playoff series. Niemi, who won a Stanley Cup as a rookie goaltender with Chicago last spring, is 6-0 lifetime in postseason series and has a 23-11 mark in playoff games.

The 27-year-old Finnish backstop did show a marked improvement in San Jose's last series after having a dismal showing in Round 1 against Los Angeles.

Niemi was 3-2 with a lofty 3.99 goals-against average and a simply awful .863 save percentage against the Kings and was pulled twice in that series. In seven games against the Red Wings, however, Niemi had a 2.43 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Also, unlike the first round, fellow Finnish netminder Antero Niittymaki did not need to relieve his countryman at any point in Round 2.

The good news for the Sharks is Niemi ended the Detroit series on a high note, stopping 80-of-84 shots over the final two games.

As a team, San Jose has allowed the same amount of goals as it has scored this postseason, yielding 38 in 13 games.

Niemi was 1-2-1 with a 3.64 GAA against Vancouver this year. However, he was spectacular in the conference finals against the Sharks last year, stopping 129-of-136 shots (.949 save percentage) for Chicago in the sweep over San Jose.

Luongo played in just two games against San Jose this season and was 1-0-1 with a 0.96 GAA and .975 save percentage. All told, he stopped 77-of-79 shots thrown his way by the Sharks in 2010-11. but is 7-10-2 with a tie and a 2.77 GAA in 20 career tests against San Jose.

The Canucks, who will also host Game 2 on Wednesday, were 27-9-5 as the host during the regular season and are 4-3 at Rogers Arena in the playoffs.

San Jose is 4-2 as the guest this postseason and had a 23-14-4 road record this season.