By Alexander Monaghan
President

UPDATE: According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, via Twitter, Rome will not be suspended for the play. The League felt that the penalty on the ice was sufficient for the actions taken. Only 18 percent of our voters agreed they should not have been a suspension on the play. Guess we can’t all get them right…

* * *

Earlier tonight Aaron Rome received a five-minute major and 10 minute misconduct when he elbowed Devante Smith-Pelly of the Anaheim Ducks. The Vancouver Canuck defenseman landed yet another controversial hit at the 11:04 marker of the second period after catching the Ducks rookie in the head with an errant forearm.

Let’s check out the hit:

While not identical to his open ice hit on Nathan Horton, Rome is a repeat offender which should garner a second look from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. One can only expect he gets a similar suspension to Andy Sutton for a direct shot to the head.

What do you think the punishment should be? We urge you to take the vote below:

By Brandon Macdonald
Editor

When a rope has too much pressure pulling on it, it snaps. When an animal is cornered something makes it go off and attack. When a hockey team is under the pressure of the fans, coaches and most importantly themselves, something has got to give.

That has been happening to this season’s edition of the Boston Bruins. After a remarkable Stanley Cup Championship run, the team has found themselves off to a rocky start in the 2011-12 campaign. Through only six games the team’s record is 2-4-0, losing three of their last four games.

The lack of goals scored (10) has led to the team pressing and getting more and more frustrated. With only two goals with the man advantage  — a recurring enemy from last season — the squad’s past demons continue to haunt them.

Frustration has set in with the club and it’s showing on the ice. In their most recent game, when they hosted the Carolina Hurricanes — who already beat the Bruins 3-2 in Raleigh on October 12 — the team faced their breaking point. The boys in black and gold surrendered nine power play opportunities to the Canes, who were successful on two of those chances, as well as five misconducts. The team even had to serve a penalty for the home crowd throwing debris on the ice. Clearly it’s not only the players getting frustrated with the teams struggles early on.

It hasn’t been for a lack of goaltending, as both Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask have played solid hockey, but the Bruins can’t seem to find that extra punch and finish off their oponents. The only example of emotion and spark the team has shown was in the shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks, which also featured a third period comeback. Aside from that it has been lackluster performances from Boston.

Getting production from the top line is essential for any team to succeed. The Bruins have gotten two goals from the first unit of Milan Lucic, David Krejci (currently injured) and Nathan Horton. The frustration from Horton and Lucic boiled over against the Canes as both forwards picked up a combined total of 28 PIM, while the captain Zdeno Chara nabbed 19 alone.

While we are only six games into the season, the team has not detracted naysayers from saying they are doomed for a season of Stanley Cup hangover. However, the product on the ice thus far has not been what you would call elite. On any given night the Bruins will be facing a team looking to take two points from the defending champs and they have failed to step up to meet their effort thus far.

Brandon Macdonald
NHLHS Editor
bmacdonald@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter @bMacdonald8

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Tonight, the Boston Bruins hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972, turning Beantown back into a hockeytown.

Bostonians can now bask in the fact that their four franchises all earned the highest honors in their respective sports in the shortest time period. In short, the city has bragging rights.

When the series first began, we wondered how this Bruins team would react to such a powerhouse in the Vancouver Canucks as the latter was fresh off an impressive and decisive Western Conference Finals victory over the San Jose Sharks, taking the matchup in the only five games.

Meanwhile, the Bruins were just this same, blue collar team. They fought hard against the Montreal Canadiens, dominated a Pronger-less Philadelphia Flyers and snuck by a cinderella story in the Tampa Bay Lightning, stealing their identity with Nathan Horton‘s Game 7, overtime game winner. If you were to ask me, I thought they were out of the playoffs in each respective series but clearly what do I know.

As an up-and-down team during the regular season, this group seemed to win the Northeast Division by default. The Canadiens struggled down the stretch due to their beat-up blue line. Their only other competition, the Buffalo Sabres, needed to be one of the best teams in hockey just to make the show. Both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators improved later into the season but still finished in the bottom-10 in overall standings.

To say the least, this team became an underdog despite their high seeding and Vezina/Norris Trophy finalists.

We know they were not expected to win. However, what we are more concerned about is explaining exactly why this Bruins team actually won this series when most pundits put them out of the Cup in six or seven. Instead of breaking out the tape and analyzing this series in a game-by-game basis we found ten solid reasons why this team takes possession of Lord Stanley’s goblet and 29 other teams regroup for another grueling season.

Without further ado, we bring you a plethora of reasons why one team came away victorious.

1. Tim Thomas. Thomas was an absolute rock. He never allowed more than three goals, and never allowed more than two in regulation. When all the media focused on the struggles of Roberto Luongo and how he would handle the pressure, Thomas once again took control of the game and ultimately took home the Cup. He carried a very strong, record breaking season into the playoffs and never looked back. When anyone doubted him, or attempted to pump his tires he never looked back. With his back up against the wall, he stopped the last 73 of 75 shots, winning both games including a 37-save Game 7 shutout. There is absolutely no chance he would not have won the Conn Smythe as the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP.
2. Motivation. Horton left the series early into Game 3. As their most clutch performer, the team clearly needed him as he scored the game winner in two Game 7 overtime wins. Although he would not return to the series, the team hoisted the motto of “Do it for Horton.” The first-year playoff performer served as a motivator, showing up for Game 6 and then pouring water from the TD Garden ice onto the ice in the Rogers Arena prior to Game 7. The hit served as the turning point of the series as Aaron Rome used too much force to injure a player while his team was up in the series 2-0, changing the momentum as a result.
3. Physical Play. Dan Hamhuis got knocked out of the series after playing only 8:09 in Game 1. Mason Raymond left in Game 6 and may never skate the same again. The walking wounded of Christian Ehrhoff, Ryan Kesler and Alexander Edler were all consistently pounded to the point where they were rendered ineffective. Rome tried to answer their physicality but wound out missing the rest of the playoffs.
4. Efficient defense. The top defensive pairing of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg not only shut down their opponent’s top line, they also improved their teammates’ games by doing so. Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference played excellent hockey on both end of the ice mainly due to their team-low quality of competition in 5×5 situations. Additionally, they also displayed much better zone rate finishes, making what should have been a weakness in a third pairing into a strength.
5. Primary Scoring. David Krejci finished the playoffs as the points leader with 23 during the 2011 NHL Playoffs. His chemistry with winger Milan Lucic allowed Michael Ryder and eventually Rich Peverley to continue to contribute in the offensive zone, quietly outplaying some of the best players in the League.
6. Secondary Scoring. Just like the Krejci line, the secondary scoring was just better. Most of the talk surrounded Kesler as the firepower on Vancouver but the second line with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi stepped up in time of need. The troika combined for an even more impressive four goals and six points in Game 7, leading their team to the Cup.
7. Forechecking. When the team was able to establish their forecheck, they created all kinds of problems for The Sedin Twins, Alex Burrows and Kesler not to mention the defense. They forced turnovers, took advantage of bad line changes and put pucks behind Luongo before he ever saw them coming.  Combined with their physical play, the Bruins used their cumulative team speed to out-work and simply out-play their opponents.
8. Discipline. Unlike the Canucks, the Bruins never seemed flustered. They rarely took bad penalties and honestly head coach Claude Julien would not allow it. They maintained their focus throughout the series, allowing the Canucks to play themselves out of the series due to frustration and simply not being the better team.
9. Perseverence. Down 2-0 in the series, they won two straight. Down 3-2 in the series, they sweep a series of two. They came back from their initial series 2-0. These guys were the ultimate comeback kids, never down and out.
10. Leadership. Neither team held a great deal of experience but keeping both Recchi and enforcer Shawn Thornton in the lineup helped the younger group gain confidence. Since his return in Game 3, Thornton acted as a voal leader for the rest of the series, taking a good deal of interviews after the game and showing his love for the city of Boston. These two in addition to seasoned veterans like the captain Chara gave this team a winning direction and identity.

These grouling playoffs are over. Congratulations to the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. You guys earned it and should be ready to defend that title in a few months.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Photo Credit: Cupcanal

There are many storylines tonight but the actual game is the story.  We can focus on every minuscule elementbut at this point the only thing both teams are focused on is winning. Winning Lord Stanley’s Cup, the greatest prize in the history of the sport, which will be given to the undisputed champion of the 2011 NHL Playoffs.

Amid the controversy, determination and scuttlebutt comes two seemingly confident teams — digging deep in order to get that last necessary W. The beneficiary of that win will finish the playoffs with 16, while the other 15 wins remain a rewarding yet useless statistic when the 35 lbs of silver and nickel alloy gets hoisted above the head of the enemy.

In the Vancouver Canucks camp, the team remains confident, or at least spoke to reporters this morning in a confident manner. Alternate captain Daniel Sedin likes the team’s odds although he must be somewhat discouraged by his team’s lack of a killer instinct.

“You know, that was probably me being excited and the words came wrong out of my mouth. What I said was if we put our best game on the ice, I like our chances. That’s the way it’s been all year. When we play our best, we’re a tough team to beat. We show that at home. We like our chances.”

The sniper Sedin assisted on both goals in his team’s 5-2 loss and has taken some of the pressure off the disappearances of brother Henrik Sedin and the slumping center Ryan Kesler. Sedin finished the season as the League leader in points so naturally being held off the scoresheet for three of the past six games have been a feat of its own. To take a page out of his book, we like his changes at finding the back of the net tonight.

Regardless, to do that he will need to find twine behind Conn Smythe shoe-in Tim Thomas. Through the first six games of the series, Thomas has posted an unbelievable 1.42 GAA, .962 SV% with a shutout. His success has been the complete opposite of Roberto Luongo, who continues to ward off his doubters while being pulled in two of his six starts and shutting out the Bruins in two of those six as well.

Simply put: the goalies control their team’s fate.

One thing we do know is the Canucks do not need motivation scoring on Thomas. After six marvelous performances, they seem confident in getting the puck past him, not relying on the Mason Raymond injury to motivate them — opposed to the #DoitforHorton campaign — as Kevin Bieksa pointed out this morning. “We obviously wish Mason was in the lineup right now, but I’ve said from the beginning, we don’t need extra motivation,” said Bieksa. “The Stanley Cup is enough motivation for us. So we’re not looking for any extras to help us get to that peak motivation.”

The Canucks do not lack motivation, much like the Bruins don’t feel added pressure on them. The latter were confident in their abilities during Game 6 and won by a healthy margin. They remain calm as this excellent mix of veteran leadership and young up-and-comers continue to blossom. ”Pressure’s five kids, no job,” Shawn Thornton said to Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe. “This is Game 7. This is fun, right? We get to play a game for a living. Just enjoy it.” He puts the game into perspective but make no mistake he wants to hoist the Cup and watching a Sedin with it would not be ‘fun’.

To summarize, the Bruins are relaxed, the Canucks like their odds and the point is still winning the Stanley Cup. When all is said and done, no one playing in this contest will forget the action tonight as we prepare for the final tilt of the season and will finally have a resolution to another season. Puck drops at 8:00 PM EST; it could not come quicker at this point.

Expected Game 7 Boston Bruins Lineup:

• Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Rich Peverley
• Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi*
• Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin
• Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton
• Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg
• Tomas Kaberle, Adam McQuaid
• Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk

Thomas will make his 25th consecutive start in goal.

The Bruins are not expected to make any line changes tonight after using this winning formula since Horton left the ice on a stretcher. Expect more of the same.

*It has been speculated tonight will be Mark Recchi’s last NHL game. He hopes to hoist the Cup up for one last time tonight.

Expected Game 7 Vancouver Canucks Lineup:

• Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows
• Christopher Higgins, Ryan Kesler, Jeff Tambellini**
• Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen
• Tanner Glass, Manny Malhotra, Victor Oreskovich
• Alexander Edler***, Sami Salo
• Andrew Alberts, Christian Ehrhoff
• Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa

Luongo will make his 18th consecutive start in goal tonight.

**Tambellini is the expected replacement for Raymond but it remains unknown where he will play tonight. He has enough speed to play on the second line and has even taken shifts with the Sedin Twins earlier in the season. AV will play his cards close to the vest.

***Edler did not skate this morning but is expected to stay in the lineup tonight.

Players to Watch:

Vancouver Canucks — Roberto Luongo

Out of the four players I could find transcripts for, nobody on the Canucks mentioned Luongo. There is absolutely no doubt that he will make or break this game. It all starts with the first 10 minutes. If he can make saves on the short side or up by his ears, he should be fine. If not, Cory Schneider might get called into the game even earlier.

Boston Bruins — Tim Thomas

Thomas knows what he needs to do and shows all the determination to win tonight’s game.

“Yep, the reality is, for me anyways, this may be the only Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals that I ever have in my career. If we happen to make it again, hopefully we can win before 7. But it’s a big game.”

If he can continue his storybook season, the Bruins will be the champs.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

“When we’re in the garage or driveway playing as a kid and you’re fantasizing, well, I was Stevie Yzerman, which doesn’t make sense for a goalie, but you’re saying to yourself, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, you’re not saying Game 6, you know?” said goaltender Tim Thomas yesterday.  “So this is really, you know, what every kid dreams about.”

It’s what most players have dreamt about all their lives.  It all comes down to one game, for all the marbles.

After the first six games of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins are deadlocked at three games apiece.  The deciding Game 7 will be played tonight at Rogers Arena.

Even though neither team was able to gain the ultimate advantage and clinch the Cup just yet, there are definitely some trends that have become crystal clear.  This has been one of the most physical Finals in recent memory, and several of the hits – from both teams – have been of the questionable nature.

Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome drilled Nathan Horton with what was deemed to be a late, open ice hit on an unsuspecting player early in Game 3, leading to Rome’s suspension for the remainder of the series.  Horton suffered a major concussion and will be out until at least training camp.

One thing the Rome hit seemed to do was awaken the sleeping bear and give the Bruins a rallying point in the series.  Down 2-0 in games and in a scoreless contest on home ice, Boston proceeded to anihilate the Canucks that night, 8-1.  Notice was served by the Bruins that they were not going to go quietly.  “Win it for Nathan” has been a familiar slogan from head coach Claude Julien, the players, and fans alike.  The legendary number four himself, Bobby Orr, was even waving a #18 Horton flag in the crowd prior to the opening faceoff of Game 4.

Horton has made appearances in the Bruins’ locker room to help inspire his teammates.  “I was very happy to see him, and I’m very happy to have him around,” said Thomas.  ”I just spent some time talking to him in the locker room.  He’s a positive guy.  His joy for the game and life is kind of like a little kid, and that’s a great thing, and I personally feed off of that.”

The concussed winger made the trip to Vancouver with the team.  “He certainly wanted to be here,” said Julien yesterday.  “We wanted him on this trip.  As you know, when you get this far, you’re a pretty close-knit group.  Our guys wanted everybody here and they’ve got it.”

Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk took Canucks’ forward Mason Raymond awkwardly into the corner boards early on in Game 6.  Boychuk got his stick between Raymond’s legs and cork-screwed the forward around and Raymond ended up hunched over and directed into the boards tail bone-first.  Raymond was almost in a wrestling pile-driver position, with the top of his head around Boychuk’s midsection.  The impact on Raymond was devastating, as the compression to his spine broke a vertebrae.  As a result, TSN.com reported last night that Raymond will miss 3-4 months.  As some called for consistency from the league in disciplinary measures – like NHL Hot Stove’s Owner and President Alex Monaghan – there was no suspension forthcoming for Boychuk.

Canucks’ GM Mike Gillis was asked yesterday about the incident.  ”I think when you see the severity of that injury, the way our doctors described it to me, very, very dangerous, and, you know, I’m always disappointed when you see any player get injured,” Gillis said somberly.  “But it wasn’t a chipped vertebrae or cracked vertebrae.  It’s broken through the belly of his vertebrae, so it’s a very serious injury.  You never want to see any player on any team have an injury like that.”

There was even an alleged finger-biting incident in Game 1 – with Alex Burrows and Patrice Bergeron – which led to a high level of animosity right off the bat.  Maxim Lapierre, Milan Lucic, and Mark Recchi antagonized their foes to the best of their abilities with fingers-in-the-face of their opponents during scrums.

As a result of the raw nature of physicality – along with the fact that each team stands in the way of the other’s respective desire to be champions – these two teams do not like each other.  Not even a little bit.

And there is no questioning that all of these factors have led to one of the most exciting Cup Finals ever.

These are the top two areas that will most-likely be the determining factors in who is hoisting Lord Stanley when all is said and done tonight:

1. Goaltending – Canucks’ net minder Roberto Luongo has had pretty much of a Jekyll and Hyde persona during the Finals.  Luongo has been awful in the games in Boston, as he was chased in two of the three contests.  He was 0-3, gave up 15 goals, and registered an atrocious .773 save percentage.  But in games in Vancouver, Luongo has been almost-impenetrable.  He is 3-0, having yielded just two goals in posting two shutouts, with a ridiculous .979 save percentage.  Thomas, on the other hand, has been unwavering in his greatness throughout the entire postseason.  With a 15-9 record, with a 2.06 GAA and .937 save percentage, the 37-year-old goalie with the unorthodox style may have clinched the Conn Smythe Trophy – whether or not the Bruins win Game 7 or not.  His performance in the Finals has only solidified that thinking, as Thomas has a 1.21 GAA and .965 save percentage in the six contests against the Canucks.


Jim Rogash / Getty Images

 

2. Home Ice Advantage – This has really been two separate series, and the outcome has been dependent on where each game has been played.  But one thing has been perfectly consistent, and that is the home team has held their serve in their home rink.  The Canucks have to be elated that the games at TD Garden have been completed.  In the three contests in Boston, the Bruins blasted Vancouver by a combined amount of 17-3.  While in Vancouver, the three games have been low-scoring, tight-checking defensive battles.  By contrast, the Canucks have outscored the Bruins at Rogers Arena by a combined count of 5-2.  It is evident that head coaches Alain Vigneault and Julien have used the last change in their respective arenas to the fullest extent.  Vigneault will have that luxury in Game 7, retaining the ability to keep his line of Burrows-Henrik Sedin-Daniel Sedin away from Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg.  Julien has split his top pairing in order to be able to have one of the two on the ice against Vancouver’s top scorers, as the two have formed solid tandems with Andrew Ference and Boychuk.  Likewise, Vigneault will be able to match his top defenders against the Bruins’ top line of Lucic-David Krejci-Rich Peverley.  Vigneault has juggled his pairings around at times during the series, but Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler are set as his top duo for Game 7.

The Keys to Victory

• If Vancouver is going to win – The early stages of the game will be a huge determining factor in Luongo’s mental frame of mind.  If the Canucks’ defense can keep Boston’s attackers away from the front of the crease and get into the Bruins’ shooting lanes, the home team should be just fine.  But if Boston gets to Luongo early, Vigneault will have his hook – and Cory Schneider – at the ready.  But don’t count Luongo out.  He has proven time and time again after a rough game in the postseason that he has the make up to recover in the next contest.  Up front, the Sedins and Ryan Kesler are the major offensive catalysts for Vancouver.  Henrik Sedin’s third period power play tally in Game 6 was his first point of the series.  No doubt everyone was expecting more, and a big showing in Game 7 can be the crucial turn on the road to redemption.  Kesler was a leading Conn Smythe candidate when he carried the Canucks’ on his back when the Sedins disappeared earlier in the playoffs.  His production has tailed off greatly, and it is obvious that the regular season 40-goal scorer is battling an undisclosed injury that has tapered his effectiveness.  Any kind of contributions from the blue line would be a big lift, also.  In the previous rounds, Bieksa and Sami Salo scored some timely goals.  Having scored just 8 goals on Thomas in the 6 games, any offensive production would be welcomed in Game 7.  Supplemental scoring is crucial, and Raffi Torres, Lapierre, and Jannik Hansen are the type of players who could shine with a Game 7 spotlight shining brightly.
• If Boston is going to win – Boston would do itself a favor by getting pucks on Luongo early, and make him prove that he can once again rebound from a poor playoff outing.  Peverley has filled in nicely in Horton’s vacancy on the top line, and could be a difference-maker in the most important game in most of these player’s lives.  Recchi, who at age 43 leads all scorers in the Finals with three goals and six points, is looking for his third Stanley Cup ring.  He could be another player to watch when the Game 7 heroics come to fruition.  Chara, Ference, and Kaberle – who has recovered from a slow start – could also be threats to score from the Bruins’ blue line.  Boston must continue to clog up the neutral zone in order to keep the Vancouver transition game from gaining speed entering the Bruins’ zone.  Any time Thomas is in the crease, Boston has a good chance to win.  He’s a battler and has shown that he will fight until the bitter end.  And if he has anything to say about the final outcome, chances are that it won’t be a bitter one for the Bruins  Thomas believes past adversityand the way they pulled together will help his club tonight.  “Being down 2-0 against Montreal, going into Game 7 with Montreal, playing Tampa and being down 2-0, going into seven games,” said the Boston net minder. “ In this series, we found a way to come back (from three close losses in Vancouver).  I don’t know exactly why.  It’s a good thing and it shows the character of the team.”

Elise Amendola / Associated Press

While it will be up to Julien to prove that he is worth his salt in out-coaching Vigneault, Luongo and the Canucks are hoping that the home ice magic the teams have experienced thus far lasts for one more game.  In the Stanley Cup Finals preview posted on June 1st, I – as well as co-author Jeff Quirin – picked the Canucks to be the last team standing after a hard-fought, seven-game series.  I won’t go back on my pick, but there is no doubt that the goaltending is the true wild card for Wednesday nights epic finale.  If Thomas outplays Luongo by a wide margin once again, all bets are off.

History Will Be Made

Two records are in danger of falling in Wednesday night’s Game 7.

1. The one record that is sure to fall is most saves in one postseason by a goaltender.  Thomas tied the record of 761 (held by Vancouver’s Kirk McLean in 1994) in Game 6, and barring an illness or early game injury, Thomas is sure to set this one early in Game 7.  Incidentally, McLean’s ’94 Canucks lost in seven games in the Finals to the New York Rangers.
2. Having to go the distance with the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bruins will attempt to become the first NHL team to win three Game 7′s in one playoff year.

Vancouver can’t beat the record of the 1939 Toronto Maple Leafs as the lowest-scoring club to win a championship, but they can tie it.  If Luongo can pitch a 1-0 shutout, the Canucks would tie the record of a Cup-winner scoring just nine times in a Finals series.

Who Will Win the Cup?  You Make the Call

When NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman calls out the name of the Stanley Cup-winning captain – “___________, come get the Cup!” – will it be Henrik Sedin or Zdeno Chara in the blank?

Make sure to let your feelings be known in the comments section.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By Alexander Monaghan
President

There was no suspension and no penalty called on the ice. Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk finished the night with an assist, a plus-1 rating, three shots on goal and most importantly 19:31 of ice time. However, he most likely should have ended his night at the 20 second marker of the first period.

According to Gordon McIntyre of The Province, the referees explained to Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin that Mason Raymond lost an edge. After reviewing the play, you can clearly see Raymond lost an edge — at least four seconds before he got forcefully was pushed into the end-boards. The puck was nowhere near Raymond at the initial point of contact, feet off of the board —  in fact he no longer had possession of the puck prior to Boychuk actually lining him up.

Check out the video below, see if you see the same thing.

Early reports indicate Raymond will miss four to six months with a fractured vertebrae.

For those concerned with Nathan Horton and his severe concussion — not to discount that injury in any way — this injury is just as bad, if not worse. More players come back from concussions than spinal injuries, I don’t need to do the research to tell you that. Steve Moore can tell you that.

While referees, and perhaps the NHL, will tell you there was no malice on the hit you could argue the same thing about Aaron Rome‘s hit. Where as we applauded the NHL for standing up against this type of aggression with Rome, they should do the same thing with Boychuk.  Years ago, we would commend both hits as strong hockey plays, but the precedent has changed as has the speed of the game.

If players continue not thinking about their actions before contact, we may not have anyone left. The game has already lost Sidney Crosby during what could have been a momentous, record-breaking season.

This game is built on a couple of seconds, and in that time Boychuk should have realized the awkward way he was drilling Raymond into the boards was not a proper hockey play.

As usual, we leave you with a vote. Kindly vote in all fairness.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Photo Credit: kpwerker

Tonight, the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks face the most pivotal game in their series — the dreaded elimination game. While fans back in Vancouver decide whether they want more green or more navy in their parade, the Bruins plan on deflating their floats once again.

Whether their gameplan is executed correctly is one thing, but there seems to be no lack of love between these two teams.

Following the game winning goal, enigmatic superstar starting goalie Roberto Luongo made sure to put his foot in his mouth by critiquing his counterpart, Tim Thomas‘ positioning. ”It’s not hard if you’re playing in the paint,” explained Luongo.

Perhaps attempting to invoke more emotion out of the Bruins (or not), Luongo may have awakened an angry giant in his opposition, although one would imagine it very hard for the home team not to be invigorated in a game of such importance.

These past five games have been hard fought and momentum changing. Every home game has been won but not without excitement, controversy and a throwback rivalry of two very even teams. Nothing is expected to change tonight when the Bruins try to even the series with the Stanley Cup in the building.

When asked how his team would react, top-line left wing Milan Lucic explained he expected more of the same. “A lot of excitement,” said Lucic. “A lot of emotion and a lot of hate and that’s what has made it such a passionate series to be a part of. And I don’t expect anything less tonight.” As a childhood Canuck fan, playing his hometown team sounds incredibly difficult, especially with the rumors of his apparent undisclosed injury.

The Bruins enter tonight’s game somewhat dejected from what was a very tough loss. More importantly, they enter the game one loss away from losing a very good shot at Lord Stanley’s Cup. They are in a fight for their lives and a fight to win together as a team, as defenseman Andrew Ference pointed out. “The city’s excited,” said Ference. “It’s been a long run and lots of ups and downs and crazy stuff, but obviously everybody can smell a finish coming up soon and wants us obviously to continue the story for another game.”

Everyone can smell that finish, especially the Canucks, who expect to “bring their swagger” tonight.

Their captain, Henrik Sedin, came out as a vocal leader this morning, trying to avert the attention from his goalie and put his team on his shoulder for the first time this series.

“We have to put our best game on the ice and we’re not taking any chances to play a Game 7. We can have a good team for a long time, but it’s really difficult to get this far and if we can’t do it this year, we might not get another shot. And that’s the reality.”

Somehow, Sedin after leading the League in scoring last year with 114 points and finishing fourth this season with 93 points only registered four shots on goal and is still looking for his first point of the series.  A goal or two from Henrik or brother Daniel Sedin would probably go a long way, especially if the ‘savior‘ Luongo shows up –opposed to his evil nemesis Luon8o.

Clearly, the Bruins hope to see the latter option but they will need to play their best game of the year to extend their season.

Expected Game 6 Vancouver Canucks Lineup:

• Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows
• Christopher Higgins, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond
• Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen
• Tanner Glass, Manny Malhotra, Victor Oreskovich
• Alexander Edler, Sami Salo
• Andrew Alberts, Christian Ehrhoff
• Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa

Luongo will make his 17th consecutive start in goal tonight.

Expected Game 6 Boston Bruins Lineup*:

• Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Rich Peverley
• Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi
• Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin
• Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton
• Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg
• Tomas Kaberle, Adam McQuaid
• Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk

Thomas will make his 24th consecutive start in goal.

Players to Watch:

Vancouver Canucks — Ryan Kesler

Last tilt we assumed he was healthy and just shut down. Now, we honestly have no idea what he will do, but the leader has his teammates’ support.

“He has been through a lot and fought through a lot,” explained Mason Raymond to Ben Kuzma of The Province. “This time of year, you lay it on the line, no matter what you’re going through and he has continued to do that.”

Can he fight through one more game?

Boston Bruins — Milan Lucic

Lucic is essentially Kesler’s equivalent: the slumping and probably hurt power forward who remained quiet most of the series.

“You’ve just got to think about a shift at time. It’s always making sure I’m getting my feet moving and skating hard. Doing that, everything else seems to take care of itself,” said Lucic to Ben Kuzma of The Province.

If he can somehow keep things simple, his team has a good chance at pulling out ahead.

Photo Credit: blipsman / Flickr

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Throughout the playoffs, every team facing the Vancouver Canucks discussed ruining their parade. As the President’s Trophy winner and frontrunner for the Stanley Cup, these guys had targets stitched above their letters: right where the NHL is trying to stop shoulder checks.

Back on May 30th, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews admitted just that to Adam Jahns of The Chicago Sun-Times:

‘‘What we could have done to ruin the parade in that city — I don’t know. I guess I shouldn’t take so much satisfaction in that, but it would have been something special, especially coming back from a 3-0 deficit [with] the expectations Vancouver has in their city with the media and all that stuff.

In the first round, his Blackhawks had the ability to stop the Canucks from advancing, yet then they watched helplessly as their rivals continued to skate through their opponents en route to the greatest trophy North America has to offer. Nevertheless, they now get an opportunity to watch the Canucks sink or swim tonight as they, for the first time since Game 1, could be down a game by the end of the night.

Before Game 3, we took the time to preview the tilt, as we have since the beginning of the Finals. The old adage — you are not in trouble in the playoffs until you lose on home ice — applied then, and more than ever it applies now. After four home-wins this series, the Canucks can win and hope they can use a raucous crowd at Rogers Arena to their advantage.

The Canucks clearly know this and understand this as evidenced by their pregame chatter. “Obviously, we do have to treat it like Game 7,” said starting goalie Roberto Luongo to Jim Jamieson of The Province. “We’ve got to treat every game in the playoffs like at Game 7.” All of their pre-game fluff will not help them when it gets to crunch time, and so far in this series’ crunch time the major players have failed show up.

Starting with Luongo, who was doubtful to play in Game 5 following his second poor start, the team looks lost from the net on out. After a four-game winning streak in which he allowed two goals or fewer, the enigmatic yet elite starting goalie surrendered 12 goals over 103:17. He needs to be better, but so does every one else.

The Sedins have combined for two points, a goal and an assist, with both coming during Game 2 off the stick of Daniel. Henrik Sedin finally managed his first two shots on goal this series after getting held shotless in his first three games but the teams still managed to get shutout. The Sedins were quiet throughout the majority of the playoffs before breaking out against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals.

However, in the past Ryan Kesler has been able to cut them some slack.  Entering this series, he looked like the shoe-in Conn Smythe winner. To get that award, you also need to show up in the Finals and over these past three games he has gotten very quiet.

These four men need to step up or their shot at the Cup will be lost in the fold. Can they do that? They will need to fight more adversity than a 117-point team usually faces all season so we are certainly entering uncharted territory.

Expected Game 5 Boston Bruins Lineup*:

• Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Rich Peverley
• Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi
• Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin
• Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton
• Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg
• Tomas Kaberle, Adam McQuaid
• Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk

Tim Thomas will make his 23rd consecutive start in goal.

*The Bruins did not take morning skate today, so any presumed changes in the lineup will happen during warmups.

Expected Game 5 Vancouver Canucks Lineup:

• Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows
• Christopher Higgins, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond
• Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen
• Tanner Glass, Manny Malhotra, Victor Oreskovich
• Alexander Edler, Sami Salo
• Andrew Alberts, Christian Ehrhoff
• Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa

Luongo will make his 16th consecutive start in goal tonight.

Game 4 Stat Pack:

• Thomas brings in a shutout streak of 66:07, making 40 saves over that span.
• Seidenberg, Bieksa and Edler all topped 25 minutes. All three have played upwards of 22 minutes in every games of the series.
• In every game of the series, the losing team has led in shots through two periods.
• Despite an apparent injury, Ehrhoff led both teams in shots with five. The Bs countered with Lucic’s five.
• Kesler, McQuaid and Chara all topped 10 PIM. Both teams would probably prefer their leaders out of the box and back on the ice for this game.

Players to Watch:

Vancouver Canucks — Ryan Kesler

Kesler not only needs to step up his game offensively, but stay out of the penalty box.

“I think it happened in Game 3 and we talked about it and were much better in Game 4 at getting out of the scrums,” said Kesler’s teammate Andrew Alberts to Jim Jamieson of The Province. “It’s not our game. Boston might want to build on the scrums and get a boost out of that. We’re trying to stay out of that and play hard between the whistles.”

The gritty leader registered 31 PIM over the last two games/losses.

Boston Bruins — Zdeno Chara

As usual, Chara will be tasked with guarding the power forward. Not much has been said about the hulking d-man. In fact, we don’t even have a quote from him or on him but if his team wins tonight it will be due to his hard work.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

If the Boston Bruins go on to win the Stanley Cup, there is little doubt who would be the Conn Smythe Trophy-winner.  Goaltender Tim Thomas made 38 saves in shutting out the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, knotting the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

Elsa / Getty Images

It now essentially becomes a best-of-three game set for the right to lift Cup.

The Vezina Trophy-candidate has been almost impenetrable in the last five contests, yielding just five goals and picking up two shutouts.  In those five games, the 37-year-old native of Flint, Michigan has stopped 165 of 170 shots sent his direction – for a mind-numbing .971 save percentage.

Wednesday’s whitewashing of the Canucks was Thomas’ third shutout of the postseason.

“He’s one of the best goalies in the league,” said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault.  “I mean, he’s up for the Vezina.  He plays his own style and he’s playing it well right now.  He’s giving his team a real good chance to win.”

“Well, he’s obviously one of the few goaltenders in the NHL that plays that way,” said the Canucks’ coach when asked if Thomas’ unorthodox style was disrupting his club’s attack.  “But his numbers are great.  He has also in the past, for whatever reason, given up quite a few goals on certain occasions.  He hasn’t done that yet. Obviously, we’re maybe responsible partly for that.  We haven’t done a good job of getting to the net, getting the screens.  We’re going to talk about that tomorrow and see if we can’t fix it.”

Boston head coach Claude Julien said Thomas is the perfect fit for his team.

“It’s indicative of the way he’s had to battle to get here, number one,” the Bruins’ coach said after last night’s performance.  “Anybody that knows the story of Tim Thomas, he’s taken a real bumpy road to get to the NHL.  He’s had so many obstacles in front of him that he’s overcome, it makes him a battler, it makes him the perfect goaltender for our organization because that’s what we are, we’re a blue-collar team that goes out and works hard and earns every inch of the ice that you can get.”

Julien continued.  “Tim fits well in regards to that.  Again, the way he battles, he never quits on any pucks, even to the point where he can let a bad goal in every once in a while or a couple in a game, and you know that when the game is on the line he’s going to be standing on his head again because he battles through it.”

Whipping the Crowd into a Frenzy

Before Game 4 even started, the TD Garden crowd was electric.  With the legend himself, Number Four, Bobby Orr waving a flag with fallen hero Nathan Horton’s name and number 18 on it, the Bruins were well-prepared for the pending battle.

The Goals

It was all Boston on the scoreboard Wednesday night, and Rich Peverley got things started midway through the first period.  As David Krejci was carrying the puck through center ice along the right wing boards, he nearly lost control of the disc.  He lunged forward and poked a pass through two Vancouver players, springing Peverley in all alone on starting goaltender Roberto Luongo.  Peverley cut in on the beleaguered netminder and sent a shot through Luongo’s five-hole for a 1-0 Bruins’ lead.  Luongo appeared to be looking for Peverley to make a move to the backhand, but the Boston center instead snapped the puck theough his legs.

Still nursing the 1-0 lead midway through the middle stanza, Michael Ryder accepted a pass heading into the Canucks’ zone along the left wing.  As he moved into the zone, Alex Edler closed on him.  Ryder snapped a shot from the top of the left circle, and the puck deflected off of Edler’s stick.  The shot sailed past Luongo’s glove hand and high into the net, and Boston held a 2-0 lead.

Just over two minutes later, the Bruins were able to increase their lead yet again.  The goal was a hallmark Boston Bruins tally, marked by dogged determination on the forecheck and intense pressure put on the puck-carriers.  Patrice Bergeron poked the puck from behind the Vancouver cage, past Keith Ballard and onto the stick of Brad Marchand.  As Daniel Sedin closed on the Boston rookie in front of Luongo, Marchand’s shot deflected off of Sedin’s stick and deflected high into the net over Luongo’s glove for the 3-0 margin.

Early in the third period, the Bruins would make it a 4-0 game.  Milan Lucic rumbled down the right wing, and Kevin Bieksa cut over to take him off the puck.  As Bieksa made the move to drive Lucic out of the play, Lucic made an outside-inside move on the Vancouver defender.  As Bieksa sent himself careening into the boards, Lucic carried the puck towards Luongo and the Canucks’ net.  As the play became a two-on-one, Lucic flipped a pass across the crease in an attempt to hit Peverley.  Luongo anticipated the pass and deflected it with his stick.  But the puck hit Peverley in the hip and caromed past Luongo and into the Canucks’s goal, and the rout was on.

Luongo was immediately pulled in favor of backup Cory Schneider.

Julien spoke about what Peverley has brought to his club since being acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers in February.

“We obviously had to make some deals at the end, obviously balance the cap situation,” the coach said.  “We needed some depth.  He was certainly one of the guys that was targeted obviously in those deals.  We just felt like his versatility, whether he plays wing or center, he has speed, we wanted to improve that area of our game.”

“We’ve used him on the power-play, we’ve used him on the penalty killing units,” Julien continued.  ”He moved up on the Horton spot and moved well.  He comes to play every day.  He’s a very serious athlete, takes good care of himself. Right now he’s being rewarded.  I know he’s been through some tough years where he hasn’t played in the playoffs. But certainly he’s been a guy that’s certainly enjoying the moment and giving us what we need.”

In the Other Net

Thomas is winning the battle of the goalies in this series.  While he has been a wall in front of the Boston goal, Luongo has faltered heavily in the past two contests.  In the two games in Boston, he yielded 12 goals on 58 shots  - a lackluster .793 save percentage.

Vigneault has taken criticism for not yanking Luongo in the latter stages of Game 3, as the goals allowed may have played mind games with the goaltender.  Now he has a difficult decision to make as to which goalie will be between the pipes for Game 5 when the series shifts back to Vancouver.

Schneider stopped all nine shots he faced in 15:45 of play in the third period.

“Louis (Luongo) is going to be fine,” Vigneault said assuredly.  “He’s one of the best goaltenders in the league.  We’ve got a lot of trust and faith in him, in his ability to play well.”

The Special Teams

Prior to the Finals beginning, many predicted that special teams would play a huge part in the series.  The prevailing thought was that the lethal Vancouver power play would dominate the Bruins, and Boston’s PP was struggling mightily.

But through the first four games, the Canucks special teams units have been badly outplayed.  The Canucks are just 1-22 (4.5%) for the series, and they have yielded two shorthanded goals, also.  The Bruins are 3-17 (18%) with the man advantage, much better than their first three rounds.

Calling Cards

With 2:27 left in regulation and a delayed penalty coming to Marchand, Daniel Sedin went to check Marchand behind the Boston net.  The rookie winger ducked down, effectively low-bridging Sedin into the boards in a cartwheeling fashion.

Vancouver defenseman Ballard, seeing his first action in the series with the injury to Dan Hamhuis and suspension to Aaron Rome, dropped the gloves with Marchand in defense of his sniping winger.

Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid looked for a willing dance partner and ended up with a 10-minute misconduct.

When that mess was cleaned up, play resumed with a Canucks power play and Schneider pulled for an extra attacker.  Shortly thereafter, Alex Burrows hacked the goal stick out of the right hand of Thomas, and when Thomas regained his lumber, he used it to full advantage.  Thomas took a whack at Burrows’ legs that would have made Ron Hextall proud, and the chippy winger turned and engaged the Bruins’ netminder.

“They’d been getting the butt end of my stick actually,” Thomas said after the game.  “They did it a couple of times on the power-play in the first period also.  I don’t know who it was, I was focused on the puck.  That was like the third time that he’d hit my butt end on that power-play.  On a six-on-four, we were up 4-0, the game was getting down toward the end, so I thought I’d give him a little love tap and let him know, I know what you’re doing, but I’m not going to let you do it forever.  So that’s all that was. It was a typical battle.”

And that is just what Thomas loves, a good battle.

Looking Ahead to Game 5

As the teams head back to Vancouver, the Canucks are reeling.  Once with a commanding 2-0 series lead the wheels are coming off the Blue-and-Green machine, and the Bruins have all the momentum.  With Thomas on a roll and Vancouver’s best players not performing up to par, Boston seem to control their own destiny.

The Canucks have many question marks, none more pressing than the defense in front of Luongo – and the goaltender himself.  Vancouver is totally off their game and are not doing any of the things that hell bring them success.  They are not skating, they are not hitting the Bruins’ line with any speed, and they are not playing with any kind of desperation or urgency.

Boston has picked up the level of every part of their game, and have used their physical presence to perfection in dictating play.

“I think we’ve got to bring our game with us (to Vancouver),” said Julien looking forward.  “Simple as that.  We have to bring our game.  That has to continue in Vancouver.  It doesn’t matter where you are, you got to play the same way whether you’re at home or on the road.”

Thomas was asked how the team was able to recover from the two close losses in Vancouver.

“We learned the lessons throughout the season that you have to put like the games that we lost behind you,” Thomas said.  ”I think we did a good job between Game 2 and 3 in that.  I think actually we did a good job of that between Game 3 and 4.  Just because we won Game 3 didn’t mean we were going to go out there and have it be a cakewalk, and it wasn’t.  I think that’s one of the things we’ve done.”

The goaltender continued in the thought.  “But every time this year that we’ve faced adversity as a team, we’ve rose to the challenge.  We needed to do it one more time because we were down 2-0.  Now we’ve done that for two games. The challenge for us will be to keep doing that.”

The Cup Runneth Over:  Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff led Vancouver with seven shots on goal and five blocked shots…The Canucks were 7-2 in the playoffs with Ballard in the lineup coming into Game 4, but he was a -2 in his first game back in the lineup and did not look alert or up to speed…The Sedin Twins had a combined three shots on Thomas, and were collectively a -3…Ryan Kesler, a Conn Smythe Trophy-candidate through the first three rounds, continued to struggle.  He finished a -1 with three shots on goal.  Kesler continues to look like the collision he had with Johnny Boychuk in Game 2 may have hurt him, and specifically his back area.  Kesler did go 15-24 (62.5%) on faceoffs…Maxim Lapierre was 9-12 (75%) in the faceoff circle…Lucic led Boston shooters with five shots on goal, and Boychuk and McQuaid tied for the lead in blocked shots with three apiece…Vancouver won 39-71 total faceoffs…The Canucks again outshot the Bruins, 38-29…Both teams failed to score on the PP; Vancouver 0-5, Boston 0-4…Thomas was once again the Star of the Game, with Peverley the #2, and Zdeno Chara #3…The Bruins did themselves holding a large lead for much of the night once again, as they were able to hold off on playing Chara and Dennis Seidenberg too much.  With the duo seeing nearly 30 minutes of ice time in many of their postseason tilts, Seidenberg saw just 25:48, and Chara 24:44.  This should work in Boston’s favor, as both should be much fresher as the series moves to its latter stages.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

Photo Credit: Mafue / Flickr

The title says it all.

The Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins need to settle down and once again play some hockey. The home team showed up on Monday night when they lambasted the Canucks 8-1 and so did distraction, frustration on the Vancouver side in addition to the budding of a beautiful rivalry.

Tonight, it will have to be all about playing the game and moving closer to fulfilling one’s NHL destiny.

“It’s certainly not about looking for revenge. Justice has been served,” head coach Claude Julien explained to Fluto Shinzawa of Boston.com. “No other reason to look for more. If we really want to make Nathan happy, we know what we have to do. That’s win a Stanley Cup.”

Could not have said it any better myself. With Monday night’s win, the Bruins can now taste the Cup and have every intention of making a series out of this. Falling behind in a series is no big deal for them as they did the same thing in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens and scraped through every game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This team has been left for dead before and seems completely comfortable battling back in time of need.

On that note, the Canucks need to battle back and #bringithome with a 3-1 series lead. All of this talk concerning suspensions, line changes, taunts, positioning, etc. needs to get benched with the team returning their focus to what got them where they are: winning.

Captain Henrik Sedin knows this, as he clearly explained to Ed Willes of The Province. “We have to realize our focus is to play hockey. That’s No.1. That’s something we’ve brought up already and we’re going to give that a lot of attention.” After the Bruins exploded for four second-period goals, the Canucks lost this focus and frustration set in.

Both Sedin, head coach Alain Vigneault and likely the rest of the team know this. “We’ve been a team that’s been very disciplined all year playing whistle to whistle,” said Vigneault. “I think we might have gotten away from that a little. We’re going to have to do a better job there.” One can only expect a better effort than allowing eight goals from the President’s Trophy winner.

The question now remains: can the Canucks win and send the series back home with a decisive lead or will the Bruins keep an emphasis on home-ice advantage?

Expected Game 4 Vancouver Canucks Lineup:

• Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows
• Christopher Higgins, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond
• Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen
• Tanner Glass, Manny Malhotra, Victor Oreskovich
• Alexander Edler, Sami Salo
• Andrew Alberts, Christian Ehrhoff
• Keith Ballard / Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa

Roberto Luongo will make his 15th consecutive start in goal tonight.

Expected Game 4 Boston Bruins Lineup*:

• Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Rich Peverley*
• Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi
• Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin
• Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell,  Shawn Thornton
• Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg
• Tomas Kaberle, Adam McQuaid
• Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk

Tim Thomas will make his 22nd consecutive start in goal.

*Seguin, Peverley and Ryder are all expected to rotate into the first line right wing position.

Rookie Jordan Caron will take warmups tonight but is not expected to draw in. The youngster Caron took Recchi’s spot on the second line during practice as the veteran often opts to not skate on game day.

Game 3 Stat Pack:

• Four Bruins registered over 10 PIM — Ference, Thornton, Lucic and Seidenberg. The Canucks countered that with five of their own to top 10 PIM in Bieksa, Rome, D. Sedin, Kesler and Burrows. Somehow, Lapierre finished without even a roughing call.
• Edler led the Canucks with a team-high minus-4 rating. My namesake has never finished a game with a minus-4 rating in his entire NHL regular season and postseason career.
• Ehrhoff led the ‘Nucks in minutes played with 27:53. Seidenberg took the minutes-eater title for the Bs, playing in 24:34 — Bieksa and Edler also topped these minutes as the team was forced to play with five d-men.
• For the third time in as many games, the losing team led the game in shots through two periods.
• H. Sedin still has no shots on goal. He might have got one off but was leveled by Thomas, click here for video.

Players to Watch:

Vancouver Canucks — Roberto Luongo

David Strehle put all the focus on Luongo here. Literally, watch him, as he formerly held the title of unraveling.

“The score doesn’t really matter. We’re in the playoffs.  It’s all about winning a game, right?  As a team, we got to look at it we lost a game.  We just got to get back to doing the things we do.  No matter what the score of the game is, we have to keep playing our game, not deviate from our game plan.”

Winning is all Luongo needs to do. Just win tonight and again in Vancouver on Friday. The talent is clearly there but will he be able to accomplish hockey’s greatest task?

Boston Bruins — First line RW

As usual, Julien will play his cards close to his chest.

“You never know what can happen through the course of the day,” said Julien to The Boston Herald.

We like Ryder in this spot provided he can stay hot. If the game remains close, expect Peverley to get more minutes there. Seguin could start out the game on the top line and provide the team with some youthful pep. Honestly, who knows with Julien.

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If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at amonaghan at nhlhotstove  dot com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @NHLHotStove or like us on Facebook, here.