The Boston Bruins once again dominated the Vancouver Canucks in TD Garden, outscoring their Canadian opponents 5–1 in Monday night’s Game Six of their NHL Stanley Cup final series. Now the series goes to a seventh game in Vancouver on Wednesday.
There is quite a lot of good and bad news for bruins fans in that one short paragraph. Some of the good news is that the Bruins have one more chance to bring home their first Stanley Cup since 1972.
There is quite a lot of good and bad news for bruins fans in that one short paragraph. Some of the good news is that the Bruins have one more chance to bring home their first Stanley Cup since 1972.
Some of the other good news is that the Bruins have shown repeatedly that they can break down the Canucks defense and goalie Roberto Luongo’s confidence. Monday night marked the second time the Bruins drove Vancouver’s net minder to the bench.
Monday night they did it in record-setting time, in fact. Never before has a team in the playoffs scored four goals in 4:14.
The bad news: they can’t seem to do the same in Vancouver.
More bad news: the Bruins dominated for one period, struggled for one period, and were totally out-classed in the final period, hanging in the game only because of the stellar goaltending of Tim Thomas.
If this is how they play with 20,000 screaming fans supporting them, what will they do Wednesday when Vancouver has that same advantage? So far the home team has won every game in this series.
Monday night they did it in record-setting time, in fact. Never before has a team in the playoffs scored four goals in 4:14.
The bad news: they can’t seem to do the same in Vancouver.
More bad news: the Bruins dominated for one period, struggled for one period, and were totally out-classed in the final period, hanging in the game only because of the stellar goaltending of Tim Thomas.
If this is how they play with 20,000 screaming fans supporting them, what will they do Wednesday when Vancouver has that same advantage? So far the home team has won every game in this series.
All the games in Vancouver have been one-goal affairs, where the Canucks used their superior speed and precision to stymie the sloppy, slothful Bruins.
Maybe Boston’s players can’t adjust to West-Coast time, but the Bruins in Vancouver skate slower, miss passes, and can’t mount sustained offensive drives—similar to how they played through much of the third period Monday night.
Neither team went all-out in the final half of the third period Monday. Both teams knew the series was headed back to Canada, and both teams knew they needed to rest their stars.
Maybe Boston’s players can’t adjust to West-Coast time, but the Bruins in Vancouver skate slower, miss passes, and can’t mount sustained offensive drives—similar to how they played through much of the third period Monday night.
Neither team went all-out in the final half of the third period Monday. Both teams knew the series was headed back to Canada, and both teams knew they needed to rest their stars.
Both teams will need to go all-out Wednesday night. But Boston will have to play at an entirely new and much higher level if they hope to disappoint the Vancouver fans.
Boston goalie Tim Thomas does not agree. “I don’t know if we need to take it to another level—we just need to play the same game we play when we’re at home,” he told Versus after the game. “I think we can do it. So far home ice has been an advantage but hard to win four at home in a row. “
When asked about how the Bruins would avoid the slow starts which have crippled them so far in Vancouver, Thomas didn’t have an answer; he did have total faith in his team.
“This group that I’m playing with just has so much character that and they showed it over and over,” he said. “We just have to pull it all together to show it one more time.”
Boston goalie Tim Thomas does not agree. “I don’t know if we need to take it to another level—we just need to play the same game we play when we’re at home,” he told Versus after the game. “I think we can do it. So far home ice has been an advantage but hard to win four at home in a row. “
When asked about how the Bruins would avoid the slow starts which have crippled them so far in Vancouver, Thomas didn’t have an answer; he did have total faith in his team.
“This group that I’m playing with just has so much character that and they showed it over and over,” he said. “We just have to pull it all together to show it one more time.”
