Times wires
Monday, May 23, 2011
VANCOUVER — Sami Salo waited 12 seasons and endured countless injuries for a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.
One win from his first Cup final, the Canucks defenseman doesn't want to wait any longer.
With a 3-1 lead over San Jose in the Western Conference final, Salo knows how important it is for the Canucks to finish off the Sharks tonight. It's something they failed to do against their opponents in Game 5 at home in the first two rounds.
"We noticed from series past we have to have the killer instinct to finish the other team off," Salo said. "Otherwise it will give them momentum and too many chances."
"They say the fourth win is the toughest one to get, and that's been the case for us," said captain Henrik Sedin, adding the team has learned from the previous failures. "The other team is for sure treating it as a Game 7, and if you are not doing it yourself, it's tough to win those games."
The Canucks have already lost two defensemen to hits by San Jose's big forwards.
One of them, Christian Ehrhoff, took part in an optional practice Monday but refused to speculate on his status, saying only that he was day to day after a hit by Jamie McGinn in Game 3. Aaron Rome, also knocked out of Game 3 by McGinn, isn't expected to play.
The Sharks didn't promise to treat tonight like a Game 7, but defenseman Dan Boyle, a former Lightning standout, liked their chances of forcing one if they get the series back to San Jose for Game 6 on Thursday: "We're going there to win a game and we like our chances coming back here, so it's going to come down to seven games."
Sharks coach Todd McLellan said captain Joe Thornton will play. He was knocked out of Game 4 by Raffi Torres.
Red Wings: Defenseman Brian Rafalski has played through the pain of a bad back and knee for a while, and Canada's Sportsnet reported that he is retiring. General manager Ken Holland said he had not received such information. "I know there are tons of rumors out there," he said. "Rafi has told me he's not 100 percent sure what he's doing next year. But I haven't talked to him in a week." Rafalski, 37, has one year at $6 million left on his contract.