Thomas, Bruins shut out Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. - Tim Thomas made 31 saves for his first playoff shutout this season and second overall, Andrew Ference and David Krejci scored, and the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night.

Thomas, the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the top regular-season goalie, gave up nine goals in the first two games of the series that the Bruins lead, two games to one.

Ference made it 2-0 with a shot from the point at 8 minutes, 12 seconds of the third period as the puck trickled between the legs of Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson and into the net.

Game 4 is Saturday in Tampa.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Sharks lost more than the first two games in the Western Conference final during a lost trip to Vancouver. They also lost their composure.

From captain Joe Thornton's challenging Ryan Kesler to a fight before the opening faceoff of Game 1 to enforcer Ben Eager's parade to the penalty box late in Game 2, the Sharks have been on the wrong side of the aggression line too often the first two games and find themselves down, two games to none, in the series.

Led by Eager's 20 penalty minutes, the Sharks committed 53 minutes in penalties in a 7-3 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday night, leading to seven power-play chances and three man-advantage goals for the opportunistic Canucks.

The Sharks look to get back into the series in Game 3 at home on Friday night.

CHICAGO - The Blackhawks and Corey Crawford agreed Thursday on a three-year contract after a standout rookie season in which he emerged as their top goalie.

The Blackhawks were looking to replace the departed Antti Niemi after he led them to the Stanley Cup last season and signed veteran Marty Turco in the offseason, but the 26-year-old Crawford established himself.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Edmonton officials and the owners of the Oilers reached a framework agreement to finance a $450 million downtown arena for the team.

In the deal, the city would provide $125 million and the Katz Group, which owns the Oilers, would pay $100 million; another $125 million would come from a user-paid facility fee.

DETROIT - The Red Wings said that assistant coach Brad McCrimmon, a Flyers defenseman in the 1980s, won't be back next season. McCrimmon's contract expired last week when Detroit was eliminated by San Jose in their Western Conference semifinal.