Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins

Bo-Van Musings and In-Game Scribbles Le Coupe Stanley

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Boston Bruins (46-25-11)
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Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9)

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Stanley Cup Finals
Game Two (score posted following scribbles)
Vancouver leads best of seven 1-0

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward. (Usually) based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee. Or late-night chocolate. A unique way to re-experience the game.

click here to expand post (it looks prettier)

 

Boston’s Tim Thomas straps on his black pads in the dressing room as we are shown the pregame rituals of some players.  Thomas wears the leather face of an assassin and his pads lack virtue, claim doom.

Reseau des Sports’ colour man, Benoit Brunet, particularly pink-faced, perhaps sunburned, extols some of Canuck forward Ryan Kesler’s virtues.  Play-by-play maestro Pierre Houde adds that Vancouver’s Manny Malhotra, missing for most of this season following a disturbing eye injury, has been practicing with the team and is a game-time decision.

Malhotra is a former Ranger who gets more credit than he deserves.  Joining the league in 1998-99, the Mississauga, Ontario native has never gotten more than 35 points in a season.  This 2010-11 season is his first campaign as a Canuck.  Local fans are pleased nonetheless.

To the big desk with Alain Crete.  Mario Tremblay and Denis Gauthier are with him.  The newly assigned fourth seat goes to Jocelyn Lemieux (Claude Lemieux’ brother).  Lemieux had a low-profile NHL career but brings some interesting points to the studio.

Game two.  Van leads one game to none following a 1-0 win and it’s hard to understand (for me) the cadence and rhythms shown by both teams in game one.  Boston alternated from hermetic to confused while the Canucks were calm, organized and patient.  The big weakness for the West coasters was Luongo.  But no pucks eluded him.  Tonight will be different.

Boston’s confidence can ebb in odd patterns and this team is particularly susceptible to on-ice occurrences.  Vancouver has that odd engine that sees the team slow in mid-third period.  Boston’s foibles are not unusual and demonstrated by certain teams through the league and in my viewing history.  Vancouver is something else entirely.  I’ve never seen a team slow at that point in a game so predictably.  It’s all rather fascinating, really.

The same routine.  That fighting everything band U2, a kid with a towel at the end of this stick and the streets still have no name.  Your Canucks take to the ice.  And our North East reps follow.  They circle the ice as the spots waggle in toneless pattern.

I see one Ray Bourque jersey, plastic cups of eight dollar beer and a “Welcome Back Manny” sign.  I never realised how good a beginning, how apt for sports, this song could be.

Luongo is low in his net and some kid in a Falcons jersey is beside him, also in goalie gear.  Seems the Canucks have seen the same things on film as I have.

Richard Loney looks like an older version of Nobby Wirkowski.  He sings the anthem.  The American one.  He slows unexpectedly as he hits “streaming”.  He keeps slow from that point.  Bright gold on his right ring finger.  A Kruger Rand tint.

The Bruins are tight-lipped and nervous.  Boston plays one of the poorest brands of nervous hockey in the East.

Now Pavarotti follows with the Canadian anthem.  Joe Pavarotti.  A local tuxedoed fella.  He sang it the last time.  I don’t actually know his name.  Yes, they flashed it.

Luongo and Thomas are the goalies and Dan O’Halloran and Kelly Sutherland are the refs.  Wanna guess where they’re from?

First Period
Jeero, Jeero

Bergeron against Kesler in the circle and Bergeron, falling forward, wins it.

Chara has it at the blue.  Long pass.  Two Bruins deep.  Canucks are to it first.  But their entry is annulled.  Boychuk.  Ference.  To the centre ice area.  Marchand finds it in the slot.  Bumped as he turns and he can’t get more on it.

Canucks enter.

Henrik.  Daniel.  Bite Burrows.  They control for about nine seconds.

Boychuk fails to exit the disc on his right hash.  Around the net it goes.  And out.  Iced.  Called.

Faceoff to Thomas’ left.  Malhotra is on the bench wearing a clear face shield.  He wears number 27.

Canucks start it out.  Ehrhoff.  One pass.  A second.  And it’s out of play.

RDS informs us that Boston head coach, the distinguished Claude Julien has logged 29 playoff wins with the Bruins, second to Don Cherry’s 31.  Cherry never won a Cup.  Cherry played one NHL game.  Thought you oughta know.

Manny Malhotra takes to the ice.  Crowd notices and cheers.

Gaffe under the Canuck end line.  Well, no.  Henrik misplayed a puck and then backhanded it to Luongo.  Who wasn’t expecting it.  Houde says it wasn’t one of the best plays in Henrik’s career.  But Luongo got it.

Luongo reaches with the glove and the puck bounces away.  Should have had that one.  Too many spots on his resume.

Just under seventeen.

Higgins tries a long pass to Kesler on the left.  Bruins negate.

Doctor Recchi deep.  Under the end line.  Puck goes to the blue.  Marchand now.  A shot.  Luongo smothers it.

Whistle.

Luongo clears ice shavings.  Faceoff to his left.  Won by Boston.  To the blue.

Deep right.  Peverley.  Good work.  One arm up.  Good balance.  Passes to the end line.  Canucks clean it up.

Pace is a bit more pronounced.  Quicker.

Salo shoots from the blue.  Thomas with a save.

Another shot, long.  Off something.  And it’s out.

Ryder deep.  Another Bruin.  Three Canucks in the area.  Good care of their own zone continues and they’re out.

Bruins throw youngling phenom Tyler Seguin on the ice.

Luongo traps a puck on a Seguin burst-in.

Faceoff to his left.  Krejci.  Loses the draw.

But he takes the puck in the low slot but cradles too long.  And the puck is taken.  Houde got a little high tenor.  It was a good chance.  Point blank.  Luongo was in position.

Under fourteen.

Sedins are back.  Under the end line.  Chara at the cage.  Two and two.  Stays in.  Canucks continue to frustrate Boston’s exits.  Finally they get it out.  It’s shot back in and Seidenberg takes a big hit that pops his body up against the glass.  He moves the puck despite.

Stoppage a few seconds later as the puck stays on the perimeter.

Benoit says that he ran into Maxim Lapierre on the streets of Vancouver today and that number forty is very happy with his new baby.

Dumped in where Luongo L-sticks it behind his net.  Canucks are out.

Sedins and Burrows, always circling back, making sure the puck can’t be angled, tricked, dumped or chipped in.  Reminds me of the Russian backcheck in 1987, somewhat.

Russia was a team that played the game in circles.  Canada played on straight lines and angles.  Either is acceptable.  Circles take a higher hockey IQ and I’m guessing that not all Canuck forward lines play this way.

Luongo traps another.  Boston’s entries are unexpected sorts.  Accidents.  I shake my head.  The myth of West Conference superiority will be reinforced by Boston’s ineptitude.

Here’s Michael Ryder (former Montreal winger) on the right.  Shot.  Luongo’s mask falls off.  He smiles after the whistle, puck safely stopped somewhere in his baggy jersey.  His baggy nearly illegal jersey.  The goalies have to be looked at again.  Equipment size and the like.  Too big.

Goalies are like O-linemen.  Always finding advantages using their uniforms (in the opposite manner; cutting em down to size).

Kesler entry.  Taken down by Chara, the Bruin captain.  It’s called.  Fully bearded he goes to the box without complaint.

Chara is one of the brightest fuses on the Bruins.  But it’s a long fuse.  There are ways to shorten the fuse, but few seek it.  Chara is six foot nine and his loss of temper is the kind that even parking lot scrappers don’t want to see.

For now, he maintains his usual calm deportment.

Replay shows that Chara did nothing wrong.  He was called for his size and optics as much as anything.  That’s normal for the hulking defender.  And he isn’t just big.  He’s good.

Kesler drove the slot area and fell forward, helped downward by Chara as the puck escaped both.

Vancouver power.

Both teams are zero of six on power-plays this series.

First thirty seconds are a wash.

Ehrhoff leaves a back-pass.  A long one.  Doesn’t matter.  And they’re in.  Thomas traps a harmless one.

Under Julien, the Canadiens used the drop pass and back pass frequently.  It was one of the first things to go under Carbonneau.  Vigneault’s Canadiens used it less.

Vigneault’s Canucks seem to be treated like grown-ups and are allowed to do as they wish as long as it stays within the guidelines and doesn’t hurt the team.

Vancouver scores.  Burrows.  At the muzzle.

Crowd is loud but not as loud as they were prior to the first faceoff of the series.  They’ve been stung too many times and won’t let loose fully unless the Cup is won.  The Canucks blew a 3-0 series lead against defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first round and survived game seven to advance.

The team blew a 3-1 series Stanley Cup final lead in 1994 against Rangers to lose the Cup.  And in 1982, they didn’t blow anything by valiantly reaching the final and losing to the dynastic New York Islanders (in the midst of a four Cup run) but it all adds up to forty-one years of futility for many of these fans and they’re not true believers yet.

King Richard Brodeur was the man of the month for those 1982 Canucks.  Their goalie and perhaps best player of all time.  Or not.  I’m not qualified to make that diagnosis.

Thomas hasn’t lost consecutive games since losing to Montreal on April 14 and 16th, RDS informs us.  That was in the first round.  Boston beat Montreal in OT in the seventh game.  Neither team deserved to advance.

But hey.  That’s hockey.  They always let one team advance.  They always award a Stanley Cup to end the season.  No matter how poorly one might play.  The idea is to get as far as you can.  Isn’t it.  I’m purposefully leaving something out.

Vancouver 1, Boston 0

Four and a half.

Torres is in pain returning to the bench.

Puck moves in diagonals for the first time.  Luongo makes another good play from behind his net.  Canucks are in.  Oreskovich.  Tambellini.  Is this the energy line?

Luongo loses sight of the puck.  Everything he does is too slow.  He’s six three, 217 pounds, a bigger goalie, to be sure.  But used to Price, as I am, I expect more quickness.  My expectation isn’t really fair.

Until one considers some of the other large, quick goalies in this league.  There are more than a few.  Granted, Price is a freak.  An unusual combination of size and quickness in net.

Luongo?  I still haven’t seen a difference-making save from the guy.  Ever.  But I’ve only seen him in, say, twenty, twenty-five games.

Sedins turn and circle, this time with the puck and they ratchet to the Boston blue.  Entry is offside.

There is something inevitable about their lane passing mastery.  Nothing seems urgent but suddenly a perfect pass to the perfect point emerges.  It forces me to watch the game in a different way.

They resume.

Ninety seconds.

Chara’s long pass is mishandled by Horton and the turnover results in a ride-in by Higgins on the left.  Not much room.  Shot is easily handled by Thomas.  Very sharp angle and Higgins couldn’t get the handle on the long puck.

Faceoff.

Henrik against Krejci.

Won by Vancouver.  To the blue.  Shot.  Off a stick or body.

Bruins exit.  Krejci gets it to Peverley, free on the right.  And Bieksa saves the situation.  Very nice.

Bruins retrieve.

They’re given only the soft underbelly.  And it’s out again.  Bruins can’t solve the system yet.

Seconds tick away and the Bruins cutting and speed are no match for Vancouver’s positioning and smarts.

Period ends.

Shots are tied at eleven.

First Intermission
Vancouver 1, Boston 0

The big desk.  Where is Chronique A La Une?  Where is Francois?

Crosby talk.  Tremblay is concerned about Crosby’s return to action.  The most celebrated Canadian player suffered two concussions this season and has been out ever since.  We are shown the replays of both several times over.  And a replay of the check in Rimouski.  Tremblay says that some have said he never took a hit to the head in junior but this bang off the end-board glass is proof.  He got up quickly but bloodied.  That hit was in 2004 and I’ve never seen it before.

Tremblay says that he doesn’t want to be critical of the Oceanic, a good organization in his view, but that there have been instances of players hiding injuries.  He’s against that, of course.

Hey, this is RDS.  There’s a reason I watch this over the other networks.  Better journalism.  Overall, sure.

Whatever.  Do you need an apology?

The discussion moves to Baie Comeau’s QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) team.  I consider checking the CBC feed.  But I think better of it.  And most viewers are on that, anyway.  Watching too much CBC dumbs down one’s hockey knowledge, anyway.

Do they even have the rights for the final?  I know but I choose not to remember.  Why bother.

Jocelyn’s stripes and tweed are a bit bright.  But not quite.  Reseau must have bought this one.

Mario is listening intently and respectfully to Alain’s comments on Quebec junior hockey and what needs to happen.  They discuss Nathan MacKinnon, Baie Comeau Drakkar’s controversial first overall choice.  That happened today.  It’s considered a risky pick because the fifteen year-old may not be interested in playing for Baie Comeau.

Baie Comeau is about 160 miles drive from Sept-Iles.  By the way.  And I really should be hyphenating it.  And your buddy Brian is from there.

Second Period
Vancouver 1, Boston 0

A Drakkar is a Viking long-ship, by the way.

Early penalty.

Delay of game.  Bieksa.  He’s disgusted and disappointed both.  Shakes his head as he takes his seat.

Boston.  With their constipated power-play.  One shot.  And they give up a two-on-two.  Shot is wide and high.

But Raymond (not the Kodak Raymond) combines with Ehrhoff for the first dangerous chance.  Slot.  Thomas is there.

Boston can’t set up.

Kaberle.  Carries.  Up.  In.  Deep.  They stay ahead of the Canucks.

The Bruins are so timid that the Canucks play them nearly man to man.  Here’s a pass to the Doctor.  Luongo is low.  Crab-traps it.  Good enough.  Whistle.

Recchi whacked and whacked and whacked.  And wasn’t whammed for it.

Vancouver is a different animal.

Faceoff to Luongo’s left.

Doctor Recchi is kicked out of the circle.  Ryder takes it.  Somehow Boston comes up with it.

Lucic a shot from the low column.  Wide.

Too many wide shots from both.

Malhotra line.

One shot.  Turned away by Thomas who saw the twenty-footer all the way.

Sixteen and a half.

Burrows on his offwing.  Right side.  Backhand is shoveled harmlessly through.

Boston is doomed.

Vancouver just glues and closes, slows and jabs.  It’s suffocating.

At some point, Boston will try the menace and tooth approach again.  But Vancouver has the characters on board to negate and initiate if necessary.  It already happened in game one.

Could Boston be swept?

Horton to Krejci.  Timing and pop.  Luongo is across.  Nicely played by the Montreal native.  No, I don’t give a hoot where you’re from.

I’m anti-knucklehead.  Remember?

Another waste of time commercial.

Replay of the Krejci shot.  High, near the mask.

Luongo is like two or three huge towels and one fierce mask.

Thirteen.

Here’s why I call him Doctor Recchi.  He used to be one of my favourite Montreal players.  And I always liked him in the other uniforms.

Torres.  Weaves.  Drops.  Hansen.  Shot.  Rebound.  They swing at it.  No.

Thomas also struggles with rebounds.  At least he has in these playoffs.

He’s the one man that can save Boston (the others are some good but not Thomas good).

Now Boston controls. To the point.  Boychuk.  Winds up. Stick to the sky.  Blast.  Rebound.  Lucic.

In.

Boston finally scores.  Luongo was too slow.  Lucic was one of two men in the low slot.

Benoit starts getting carried away.  Calls it an excellent second period for Boston.

Boston 1, Vancouver 1

Krejci. Driving.  Finds Horton.  Luongo got across. I’d like the replay.  Could have been a great save.

Bruins have pepper on their steak.  Three deep.  One defenceman advances to make it four.  Retreats.

They keep it in.

Boston can play, baby.

I shake my head.

They control on the boards.  Penalty against Canucks.

Boston will go away after a while.  That’s why I shook my head.

Tampa.  Why couldn’t it have been Tampa.  They’re relentless.  Particularly to begin and close periods.

Boston power.

Kaberle on the blue with Seidenberg.  Horton, Lucic and Krejci on the first wave.

They control for a few.  It’s out.

Another entry. One and twenty.  Puck goes out of play.

Lucic has his animal growling and chewing inside him again.  He’s young.  So much potential.  A few more things to learn and he could be this team’s dominant player.  Some nights he is that.

Canucks fire it out.

Chara retrieves.

Ryder, Recchi and Seguin.

Shot.  Deflection.  The Doctor.  Chara’s long looper went off a Canuck and then a Doctor.

Over the left pad.

Boston 2, Vancouver 1

In the mind of the hockey paranoic, an entire series can now unravel.  And there is fact to back it all up.  Confidence is a strange elixir.  And it can pool under rinks, fields and parquet.  Squishy, sneaky stuff.

Seven and a half.

Boston will press for a few minutes now.  Let’s see what Vancouver does in response to Boston’s motivated speed (as opposed to their usual speed).

Thomas loses control of a puck in the low slot.

Houde’s voice yodels and pinwheels with the puck’s spin to the crease.  It stays out.

Six and fifteen.  Crowd was losing it.

And now an eraser.  Hansen.

And a certain goal.  Is stopped by Thomas.  Did I say stopped?  Snuffed.  Punked.  Pickled and pilfered.

Wow.

That’s something your buddy Loo can’t do.

Thomas got across like milk over a keyboard.  Hansen can only shake his head.  The puck went white.

Five minutes.

Canucks drive it.  Malhotra.  Driving to cheers.

Around the net.  Thomas beaten.  Doorstep fireball.  And it’s muffed.

Long Boston panic puck.  Icing.

Bs were fortunate.

Tambellini missed the lip lick.

We resume.  To the blue.  Edler.  Fires.  Hits someone.

Ryder slowly trundles out.  Murgled into the boards.

But it’s out.

Canucks retrieve twice.

Under four.

Boston is playing the Eastern brand.  Van is West.  Slow meets speed.  And turnovers settle the semi-circles.  Bieksa advances.

Marchand was full points.  But his stick is not at all like Bergeron’s.

Rene Angelil is featured in a St. Hubert commercial.  The guy makes me queasy.  He’s Celine Dion’s husband.  He was one of the hoped-for potential owners named when Montreal was up for ownership in 2009.  Yes, we are all glad about Molson’s buying their way back.  Very glad.

Minute twenty.

Boston ice.  Higgins and Kesler.  Higgins delivers his usual pretend effort on the forecheck and it allows Boston to escape.  Moments later, Vancouver is called for interference on the Bruin entry.  This is the kind of thing, small, unmarked in the stats pages but critical to causing a loss … Higgins.  You can keep him.

Early effort by Boston is countered.  They retrieve.

Ryder.  Recchi.  Seguin.  They are the first wave this time.

Time runs out on them.  It’s a strange line.

Shots on goal were in Boston’s favour 14-10 for a total of 25-21.

Second Intermission
Boston 2, Vancouver 1

Crowd is subdued.  The echo on the PA system is nearly baritone lonely.

Not much to report.

Third Period
Boston 2, Vancouver 1

Seidenberg is called early.

Vancouver is neutralized for the most part on the power-play.

Canucks are up to the task, coverage is sound.  But the Nathan-Krejci combination is creative and finds one gap for a near low-slot shot.

Horton fires one long to bring on a line change.

Bruins are lively but the passing remains wracked.

Dangerous pass to the low slot, Bieksa falls, a shot and it nearly finds the net.  Bieksa stays down after the whistle.

Brunet thinks he took a skate or a stick.  Leg injury.  In a lot of pain. Rises.  Trainer beside.  Houde is sympathetic.  Bieksa is able to coast to the bench.  Stays there, head down.

Peverley hacked him.  Brunet says that Peverley got away with one.

Canucks used 13 defencemen during the regular season, nine in the playoffs, Reseau informs us.  Teams usually dress six for a game.  Sometimes seven.  Almost never five.

Under fifteen.

Seguin.  To McQuaid on the blue.  Fires.  What do you think.  Wide.

Ehrhoff tries a long shot on Thomas from his own blue.  Leads to a brief possession and a mild save by Thomas.  Glove on a long shot.

Canucks win the faceoff.  Henrik from the high circle.  Wide.

Bruins chase.  Bergeron.  Henrik.  To Alberts.  No problem.

Pass and another.  Henrik.  Closing.  Fires.  Wide.

Nervous?

To the blue.  Shot.  Thomas out about eight feet.  Canuck swooping.  Puck is snarled in legs and Thomas.  Floops out but no shot resulted.

Boston possession.

Horton.  Loses it.  Turns it over, rather from the hash.

RE-entry. Lucic.  Drops for McQuaid.  Just wide.

Lines change.  Bieksa is back on.  Carries.  Lobs.  Finds Higgins.  Two and two.  Kelly and Higgins joust.  Higgins comes up with it.  To the point.  Lost.

Peverley and Alberts.  Racing into Canuck ice.  Alberts stays ahead of the accelerating, always dangerous Peverley.

Possessions decrease in length.  Canucks turn one over.  But again, in their zone, they show their ongoing superiority in exiting.

Bruins cascade and collide and the Canucks push.  Thomas shoves out.  A Canuck tumbles in the slot.  Daniel with a muzzle shot.

Edler with a follow-up on the other side.  Off the protective netting.

Stoppage.

Brunet says that the Bruins are not letting the Canucks set up tonight.   Video proof is provided.  It’s a bit generous a remark.  Canucks have created far more quality chances.

Ten and a half.

Canucks control as if it’s a power-play.  Scrum in the slot.  Puck pops free.  Daniel Sedin.  Waits.  Pops it in.  Scorer’s finish.

Long shot-pass.  To Burrows.  Perfect pass with his back to the crease.  Sedin from the low column.  Thomas tried to get across.  Just not enough body.

Vancouver 2, Boston 2

Under ten.  Bruins press.  Ryder.  Peverley floating to the crease.  Ryder keeps and passes to the blue.  Shot is wide.

Another long shot.  Blocked.

Crowd is like a loud cloud.  Whoah and ah.  They sense it.

Canucks have more verve.  Kesler takes a pass at mid-ice and lofts one deep.  Bruins move it out immediately.  But the strangle and tangle in the neutral zone keeps the Canucks safe.

Krejci and Horton pierce it. One pass.  Wide shot.  But there’s more.  Lucic swerves into the Canuck zone.  Loses the disc.

Another entry.  Another Lucic lost puck.  He doesn’t look for the support.  And the Canucks wrap to their men like sweet Satan.  I mean Saran.

Break.

Reseau asks viewers who the last Bruin to win the Conn Smythe was.  Phil Esposito was one of the choices.

Under seven.

Mason Raymond to the net.  Coverage.  Shot.  Angle and pads, Thomas is there.  And another Thomas save after some perimeter passing.

Canucks control the puck like a team.  The individual is sacrificed for the blueprint.

Henrik.  Daniel.  Ference back.  Ference somehow negates it all.

Lapierre now.  Four Canucks.  Three Bruins.  A fourth.  A shot through legs, standing.  And Thomas finds it.  Lapierre’s great speed is not matched with a play-making savvy and that saves Boston.

Break.

Lapierre was putting his finger in front of Bergeron’s face and smiling that Begin smile.  He learned it from 22.

Five minutes.

Bruins control.  Brief.  Luongo was low and peering.  Chara and Seidenberg combined on the blue but no receivers found.

Rome tries a long pass.  Too long.  Refused.  Called as icing.

Faceoff to Luongo’s right.

Kesler.  Loses to Bergeron.  Behind the net.  Bieksa falls in front of Recchi.  But the puck leaves anyway.

Such a critical part of Vancouver’s game.  They’ve kept a clean stoop.

Faceoff outside the Bruin blue.

Daniel falls to keep possession.  ON his knees, he watches it escape.  But it’s back in the maw of Canuck control moments later and they adroitly maneuver into Bruin ice.

And keep it in on the blue.

What magnificent work from the home team.

They often look as if they have the man-advantage.  Sedin line mostly.

Three minutes.

Long pass for Lapierre.  Just a bit far and in front of two Bruins.

Krejci.  Driving.  Side-pass to the point.  Back to Krejci.  Can’t create.

Bruins keep.  Lucic’ shot is blocked.

The Canucks must study a lot of tape.  They’re often in position either for the strip or the block.  I can’t help but make comparisons.  I’m sparing you those.  Comparisons with Montreal, of course.

Hansen.   Right side.  Blast.  Big Thomas rebound.  Shot can’t be had.

Thomas is getting tired.

Not as quick getting up from the ice.

Under a minute.

Thomas is in his mid-thirties.  Makes a difference.  Thirty-seven.  Is that mid?  Or late?

Thirty seconds.

Higgins line.  Kesler.  Higgins.  With some rarely shown silver.  Wide.

Period ends with Vancouver pressing.

We go to overtime.

Vancouver led on shots 11-5.  They lead 32-30, overall.  Five against will do it.

Third Intermission
Vancouver 2, Boston 2

Winnipeggers lost.

Overtime
Boston 2, Vancouver 2

Kesler for Vancouver.  Krejci for Boston.

Just a guess.

Bergeron.  Henrik Sedin.  It’s not four on four.  Full twenty minutes and five on five.

Burrows is through.  Thomas is out. Splayed.  No shot.  Burrows.  Keeps it.  Turns, the net is empty, the ice is wet, the puck is in.

Vancouver can glow the city.  The crowd is standing and somehow subdued in their joy.  Ference immediately turned it over from his blue.

Burrows faked in an awkward, convincing pose and rounded Thomas.  And the Canucks poured out.  Alain Vigneault was not afraid to show some joy.

Your Canucks are on their way.  Nineteen ninety-three is far too long ago.  Who cares who won it then?

Really.
Final Score
Vancouver 3
Boston 2 (OT)

HDS Stars: Alexander Edler, Christian Ehrhoff, David Krejci
RDS Stars: Alexandre Burrows, Daniel Sedin, Milan Lucic

Honourable mention: Alexandre Burrows

Vancouver leads series 2-0.  Game three in Boston on Monday, June 6th, 2011 at 8PM EST.

And Thomas came out too aggressively.  He jump-dived at the puck and failed to (nearly did) disrupt Burrows fully.  The puck banged off the back boards and back onto Burrows stick.  It was a leaning, falling shot that had no speed.

Just a closing thought.  Live by the pass, die by the interception.  You know?

It’s not really my philosophy.  But conservatism is most pronounced as fear increases.  In hockey, what’s more fearful than the Stanley Cup final?

Less woe.  More aah.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins, 5.0 out of 5 based on 3 ratings

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