B’s Lose Game 2 In OT
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Alex Burrows bit the Bruins again! And this time it really hurt!
The Vancouver Canucks’ forward should have been suspended by the NHL for last night’s game 2 for having bitten the finger of Patrice Bergeron in game 1 but was not. And in the first period last night he scored a power play goal to give his team a 1-0 lead after one. He assisted on Vancouver’s second goal of the game which tied the game at 2 in the third. Even worse, he scored :11 seconds into overtime to beat Boston 3-2 and put the Canucks up 2-0 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL deemed that there was no “intent” involved in Burrows bite of Bergeron allowing him to play in game 2. It was a controversial decision questioned by those who played in, coached in and cover the game. To a man, they all agree that the league made a terrible mistake not to suspend him for game 2.
That decision now looms very large.
Down 1-0 after one, Boston’s offense came to life in the second period with Vancouver native Milan Lucic scoring the B’s first goal of the series midway through the second. The B’s would take their first lead of the series a couple of minutes later when they scored on the power play.
Bruins’ coach Claude Julien apparently decided to scrap the idea of having Zdeno Chara in front of Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver net on the power play. With Chara back at the point, he sent a wrister on net that seemed to go off the skate of Mark Recchi putting Boston on top 2-1.
That was the score heading into the third when Vancouver mounted a furious flurry midway through third. It resulted in a Daniel Sedin goal which tied things up at two.
The Canucks were relentless in their third period pressure out-shooting Boston 11-5. But Thomas withstood the pressure sending the game to overtime.
But in overtime, Burrows broke into the Boston zone with the puck skating down the left slot. The always aggressive Thomas came out to challenge him on the play. But Burrows calmly skated around the net and scored the game-winner on the wrap-around with Zdeno Chara on him to give the Canucks the commanding 2-0 series lead.
The Bruins now return home in pretty much a must-win situation. Game 3 of the series will be played Monday night at the TD Garden. Faceoff is set for just after 8pm.
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