With the Stanley Cup Final series tied at 2-2, the loser of last night’s game would have a difficult time winning the Stanley Cup. Because the Bruins dropped last night’s game 1-0 to the Canucks, the Stanley Cup is one victory away from returning to Canada for the first time since 1993.
With his second shutout of the Final, Roberto Luongo became the first goalie since Detroit’s Chris Osgood in 2008 with multiple shutouts in the championship series. It was his fourth shutout of the playoff season. While we are on Luongo, he can become the first Stanley Cup winning goaltender to wear jersey No. 1 since Bernie Parent of the Flyers in 1975.
Home cooking has been a huge advantage in each of the last three seasons. The home team has a 16-2 record, and has won each of the first five games in the last three seasons. For Boston to win the Stanley Cup, they would have to win the Cup on the road. The two losses in that stretch resulted in the road team winning the Stanley Cup: Pittsburgh in 2009 and Chicago last season.
Similar to Game 1, the first two periods were scoreless. And just like the opening game of the series, the only goal of the game was scored by Vancouver in the third period. This time it was Maxim Lapierre scoring what could be one of the biggest goals in franchise history when he scored at 4:35 of the third period. The Canucks threw everything they had at Boston goalie Tim Thomas but finally got a puck past him when Kevin Bieksa threw the puck intentionally off the boards right to the stick of Lapierre which scored on the open net. Raffi Torres also assisted on the even-strength goal.
The Bruins fired more shots on goal than the Canucks with the 31-25 advantage. Their record is 3-5 when having more shots on goal than the opponent. They might have to allow Vancouver get more shots on goal Monday night as they have a 11-4 record when the opponent fires more shots on goal.
Both teams were fairly disciplined during the game, only seven power play opportunities between the two teams. Boston went 0-4 whole Vancouver went 0-3.
The Canucks can clinch the Stanley Cup Monday night in Boston, where the puck will drop at 8:00 p.m.
