VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Raffi Torres ended an ugly Stanley Cup finals opener with a dramatic flash of beauty for the Vancouver Canucks.

Torres scored on an exceptional pass from Jannik Hansen with 18.5 seconds to play, and the Canucks stunned the Boston Bruins 1-0 Wednesday night.

Roberto Luongo made 36 saves in his third shutout of the postseason for the Canucks, but Boston’s Tim Thomas matched him until Torres — the only Vancouver player with previous finals experience — slipped through the defense for a beautiful goal that launched a wild celebration at Rogers Arena.

“I thought we were going to play all night the way it was going,” Luongo said. “It was an exciting way to start the series. It was such a close game. It could’ve gone either way, a flip of the coin.”

Thomas stopped 33 shots for the Bruins, who went scoreless on six power plays. Boston played outstanding defense until the NHL’s highest-scoring team finally connected in the final minute.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Vancouver.

Boston also killed six Canucks power plays in an outstanding defensive game led by captain Zdeno Chara, but Torres’ goal ended the 37-year-old Thomas’ shutout streak at just under 129 minutes. He hadn’t allowed a goal since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, shutting out Tampa Bay in Game 7.

Ryan Kesler’s pass set up the final-minute scoring sequence in a tense, tight-checking game featuring stellar defense and bad-tempered play by both clubs.

Canucks forward Alex Burrows even appeared to bite the gloved finger of Boston’s Patrice Bergeron after the first-period buzzer, raising the possibility of a suspension for the Canucks’ rambunctious first-line wing.

Both teams entered their first playoff meeting looking to end lengthy Stanley Cup droughts. Vancouver has never won the NHL title in four decades of existence, losing its only two trips to the finals in 1982 and 1994. Boston has lost five straight finals since winning in 1972.

After a full week off, the Canucks came out with palpable energy from a crowd that shook the arena violently enough to dislodge a bit of confetti left over from the Western Conference finals onto the ice before the game.

But the officials kept both teams on a steady parade to the penalty box in the first two periods, a big change from the Bruins’ penalty-free Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay.

The Bruins again were hurt by their terrible power play, which managed just five goals in 61 chances in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Boston got nine shots without a goal during an early four-minute power play against Vancouver before failing to convert a two-man advantage for 1:32 early in the second period. Luongo was outstanding in the opener of his attempt to win the Stanley Cup on the same ice where he backstopped Canada to the gold medal in last year’s Olympics.

The Canucks started to turn the game in their favor in the third period.

Christian Ehrhoff’s pinpoint pass set up Hansen for a breakaway early in the third, but Thomas coolly stopped his low shot, prompting Hansen to slam his stick into the glass in frustration. Maxim Lapierre had a point-blank chance with 8½ minutes left, but Thomas stopped his deflection.

Alex Edler then made a slick move for quick shot with 5½ minutes to play, but the puck rang off the crossbar above Thomas’ right shoulder.

Vancouver was the NHL’s best team in the regular season, setting franchise records with 54 wins and 117 points while winning the Presidents’ Trophy. Boston finished third in the East and survived a nail-biting first-round series with Montreal before outlasting the Lightning to reach its first Stanley Cup finals since 1990.

NOTES: Vancouver scratched C Manny Malhotra, who isn’t ready to return from a career-threatening eye injury. Malhotra hasn’t played since getting hit in the left eye with a deflected puck March 16, but he returned to practice two weeks ago after at least two surgeries. Alex Bolduc replaced Malhotra in the lineup, but barely played. … The Canucks hadn’t gone into the third period of a scoreless playoff game this spring. Boston had done it three previous times. … Former Maple Leafs captain and Canucks forward Mats Sundin attended the game, as did Vancouver resident Michael J. Fox.

Vancouver fans

seize moment

Judging by the jersey-wearing, face-painted masses crowding into downtown Vancouver on Wednesday night, this city’s passion for the Canucks has eclipsed even Olympic fever.

“It’s like the Holy Grail,” Canucks defenseman Sami Salo said of the Stanley Cup. “Nothing compared to the Olympics or the world championships.”

Vancouver’s fans seem to agree.

The streets around Rogers Arena were a sea of green and blue sweaters at a street party despite Game 1’s 5 p.m. local start time, right when most people were just getting off work. Downtown bars had patrons lined up out their doors, and thousands gathered under threatening clouds for outdoor viewing parties on giant screens.

A live DJ entertained players in impromptu street hockey games closer to the arena, and fans milled around a statue of former Canucks coach Roger Neilson waving his infamous white towel from the team’s 1982 run to the Stanley Cup finals.

Jim Potter waved money around instead, pulling out a wad of bills and happily shelling out $750 — double face value — on the street corner for a pair of upper deck tickets.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” the 29-year-old fan said. “It’s our team, a team we’ve cheered forever, so in some ways it is bigger than the Olympics.”

No Manny

Canucks center Manny Malhotra was unable to return from his career-threatening eye injury in time for the finals opener.

Malhotra hasn’t played since a deflected puck hit him in the left eye on March 16, but he returned to practice with Vancouver two weeks ago. He was declared ready to play last weekend, but he missed practice Tuesday, and didn’t suit up for Game 1.

Malhotra is a faceoff specialist and an excellent defensive forward. The Canucks used a fourth line featuring Jeff Tambellini, Alexandre Bolduc and Victor Oreskovich.

Green initiative

The NHL is watching its water footprint at the Stanley Cup finals.

NHL Green, the league’s sustainability initiative, unveiled plans Wednesday to make the finals into the first water-neutral playoff series in league history. The league will restore at least 1 million gallons to Oregon’s Deschutes River after tracking every gallon of water used at both Stanley Cup finals arena — even in the ice.

“This is a monumental statement on the part of the NHL, its fans, teams, and players,” said Todd Reeve, the vice president of watershed programs at the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. “This commitment to match water used on the ice and in the arena with an equal amount restored to a critically dewatered river represents a cutting-edge commitment to sustainability.”

The foundation sells water restoration certificates that are used to replenish depleted water sources and damaged ecosystems. Most of the water in the Middle Deschutes River is diverted at Bend, Ore., by water rights holders, according to the foundation.

NOTES: The Canucks hope they can maintain a curious pattern for Canadian clubs from cities that hosted the Olympics. The Montreal Canadiens won the 1977 Stanley Cup after their city hosted the 1976 Olympics — and then the Calgary Flames won the 1989 Cup after the Winter Olympics visited in 1988. … Just one of the past seven Presidents’ Trophy winners has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, and just seven have done it since the trophy was first awarded in 1986.