One For The Cup! B’s Force Game 7

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Was that game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night or a Mike Tyson fight from the late 80’s or early 90’s?

Much like a Tyson fight from early in his career, this one was over early. Real early!

And if the Bruins were Mike Tyson, Canucks’ goaltender Roberto Luongo was “Hurricane” Peter McNeeley.

Boston played rope-a-dope with the loud-mouthed Luongo scoring 3 goals in 3 minutes against him leaving no doubt that the series would be heading back to Vancouver for a 7th and deciding game Wednesday night.

Luongo, who criticized Tim Thomas for his aggressive style following game 5, was pulled from the game after those 3 goals by Brad Marchand (9), Milan Lucic (5) and Andrew Ference pp (4). And that was with 11:25 remaining in the first period!

His replacement Cory Schneider was greeted rudely as Boston’s Michael Ryder (8) beat him just over a minute after he entered the game to make it 4-0 Boston.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice, Tim Thomas was………well…….Tim Thomas.

The Bruins’ goaltender was outstanding stopping many a great scoring opportunity by Vancouver.

It was a magical night at the TD Garden from the very start.

16 years ago this building opened up as the Shawmut Center. A few banks later, it rocked like it never had before even before Rene Rencourt took to the ice for the Candien and American national anthems.

B’s fans shouted the lyrics to the “Star Spangled Banner.” And they blew the top off the building when their team essentially scored 4 goals in a 4 minute stretch midway through the first.

The final score was 5-2 but that was insignificant. All that mattered to the Bruins was scoring 1 more goal than the Canucks to force a game 7 in Vancouver tomorrow night.

Mission accomplished!

NOTES:

-Canucks’ goaltender Roberto Luongo could not have written a worse script for himself if he tried to. The Vancouver net minder said of Thomas after game 5, “It’s not hard (stopping Lapierre’s goal) if you’re playing in the paint. It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen.” In Luongo’s 3 games in Boston this series nothing looked like an “easy save” for him. In 2+ games between the pipes at the Garden, Luongo gave up 15 goals to the Bruins. Think he’s happy game 7 is in Vancouver?

-One of the more exciting sights of Monday’s game 6 was that of Nathan Horton cheering on his teammates. Horton was knocked out of the series with a serious concussion after a cheap hit by Vancouver’s Aaron Rome. Horton waived his yellow Bruins rally towel after each of Boston’s first period goals.

-Brad Marchand’s first period goal was his 9th of the postseason. That’s a new Bruins’ rookie record eclipsing the old record of 8 held by Bobby Joyce in 1988 and Mike Krushelnyski in 1983.

-For all of the criticism Boston’s power play has received this postseason, they have outperformed the league’s top team on the power play so far this series. The B’s are 5-26 on the power play (19%) while the Canucks are just 2-29 with the man advantage (07%). In fact, not only has Boston’s penalty-kill been outstanding this series, it has scored as many shorthanded goals (2) as the Canucks have power play goals (2).

-Win or lose Wednesday night, Boston’s Tim Thomas has all but wrapped up the Conn Smythe Trophy given to the most outstanding player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thomas has given up a total of 8 goals in 6 games thus far in the Stanley Cup Finals (1.33 goals against average). He has also stopped 201 of the 209 shots he has faced in the series for a .962 save percentage.

-Henrik Sedin's power play goal at the start of the third period was his first goal and first point of the series. Sedin had a league-leading 21 points (2 goals, 19 assists) this postseason coming into the Stanley Cup Finals but has found life difficult against the likes of Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg and Tim Thomas.

-David Krejci's 3rd period goal was his league-leading 12th of the postseason. Krejci's 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) is also tops in the league this postseason.

-If you were thinking about making the trek across country for game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver, bring your wallet! As of last night, the cheapest tickets from brokers for game 7 at the Rogers Arena started at $2,000+ a piece. Whether you are a Bruins fan or a Canucks fan, seeing that game live and in person will not be cheap.