What is there to say about this game? The Canucks were 60 minutes away from winning the Stanley Cup. All they had to do was do something a team had not done this series: win on the road. And it all came collapsing down in a span of four minutes early in the game as Vancouver fell to Boston 5-2 in Game 6 Monday night.
Just as Roberto Luongo played solid by earning two shutouts in this series, he has been just as bad in Boston. He has been pulled off the ice twice in the Stanley Cup Final including last night. He allowed four goals in a span of 4:14. I felt bad for fans who missed the game because if they did, they missed essentially the entire game. That was a Stanley Cup record for fastest span of four goals, beating the Montreal record of 5:29 in 1956 against Detroit.
The Bruins were also the first team since the 1996 Avalanche to score four times in the first period. 12 teams share the record for most first period goals by one team.
The first goal came at 5:31 when Brad Marchand fired a wrist shot over the glove of Luongo. It was important for Vancouver to score the first goal, because if Boston scored (in case they did) it would keep the crowd loud and into the game. Things only got louder as they scored 35 seconds later when Rich Peverely and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Milan Lucic’s fifth playoff goal.
The third goal of the game was scored when Andrew Ference scored on the power play at 8:35. His shot from the blue line went through a screen and Luongo couldn’t react to the puck in time. A pair of Mikes (Recchi and Ryder) were credited with the assists. The final shot Luongo would see would actually be one he didn’t see. Tomas Kaberle fired a slapshot on goal but was tipped by Ryder at 9:45. Coach Alain Vigneault pulled Luongo in favor of Cory Schneinder after the fourth goal. Luongo would finish the game with five saves on eight shots in 8:35. Schneinder played the remainder of the game and made 21 saves on 21 shots.
The only goal Schneider would allow would come in the third period at 6:59 when David Krejci reached the dozen-goal mark of the playoffs when he scored on a wrist shot. Recchi earned his third assist and Kaberle his second of the night on the goal.
Vancouver would score twice in the third period. The ghost that was Henrik Sedin lit the lamp for the first time this series and the first time since Game 1 of the conference final against San Jose almost a month ago. The power play goal at :22 of the third period was assisted by Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin.
The final goal of the game would come at 17:34 when Daniel Sedin and Jannik Jansen assisted on Maxim Lapierre’s third goal of the playoffs.
With his third win of the series, Tim Thomas made 35 saves on 37 shots. The final game of the season, with the Stanley Cup on the line, will be played Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. on NBC. Viewers can see pregame and post-game coverage on Versus.
