Cup Finals Game 1

The hockey world rejoiced Tuesday night as the Bruins and Canucks faced off at the Rogers Centre in Vancouver for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. After a weekend of watching the NHL Network's previews, the local news coverage of the Bruins, and TSN's plethora of previews, I was sick of hearing how good the Cauncks are.

I know the Canucks are statistically the best team in the NHL as winners of the President's Trophy. They occupied first place in the Northwest Division all year and played near the top of the Western Conference all year. The scoring combination of the Sedin Twins, Ryan Kessler, Alex Burrows, and company is phenomenal. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning could boast a similarly potent powerplay all year long. Roberto Luongo, plagued by critics for his playoff performance the past few years, has been remarkable all season and dominated the Predators and Sharks in the Conference Semis and Finals.

The Bruins, however, and there defence first approach to winning all year, proved to be too much for the potent Montreal Canadiens, physical Philadelphia Flyers, and high flying Tampa Bay Lightning. Tim Thomas has been consistent all year, playing his athletic, albeit unorthodox style, with the confidence he showed during his Vezina campaign from two years ago.

Game 7 of the Eastern Finals against the Lightning proved to be a gem. Both teams played conservatively at first, not wanting to make the crucial turnover that would cost them the game and the series. The Bruins came out with their aggressive forecheck, which effectively confused the speed and aggression of the Lightning breakout and transition game. Lightning tendy Dwayne Roloson was spectacular, matching Thomas save for save and keeping the game tied late into the third, despite some Boston powerplays. The Bruins took advantage of the Lightning's stubborn trap and caught the Tampa backcheckers sleeping as the B's marched into the attacking zone. Nathan Horton's tip in was something more beautiful then words could possibly describe. The ability to break and still control the stick enough to direct the puck past the sliding Roloson is something few NHLers can do.

Both the B's and Canucks came out flying in Game 1 of the Cup Finals. The Canucks sought to establish the physical game against a normally physical team. From top to bottom, Daniel Sedin to Mason Raymond, the Canucks finished their checks and intimidated the Bruins anytime they tried to enter the attacking zone. Like the Lightning, the Canucks have immense speed on the breakout and proved a little too quick for the Bruins in the opening seconds. The Bruins defence and penalty kill was ready. Led by Chara and Seidenberg, the Bruins D stood tall and kept the twins to outside the circles. On the PK, Paille, Campbell, and Bergeron played aggressive, keeping the potent Canucks PP on the move, while remaining in the passing lanes.

The Bruins anemic PP, however, cost the team dearly. The B's had two 5 on 3's and failed to score on both of them. Coach Claude Julien parked Chara in front of the net to screen larger than life Luongo. Chara was effective in causing havoc for Luongo, but kept trying to tip the puck in on point shots, rather than just screening the old tendy. Bergeron and Kaberle moved the puck well and found good shooting angles, but they had difficulty finding anyone to band in the rebounds (aside from Big Z the gentle giant). Mark Recchi played well despite his age and had a golden opportunity in the 2nd when he got a sweet feed from Milan Lucic across Luongo's crease. Recchi, however, was pushed to the goal line, and had little angle to put the biscuit in the basket.

The Bruins matched the Canucks tit for tat the entire game, playing a physical, high flying game. In the third period, however, the speed of the Canucks eventually caught up with the Bruins. The B's seemed to loose their legs half way through the period and no longer dumped the puck in or made crisp passes with purpose. Against a team that thrives on turnovers and the transition game, weakly saucing the puck out into the neutral zone and attempting to change, can be challenging, if not devastating. The Canucks had a prime opportunity off a Lucic turnover in the defensive zone early in the period. With time running down, the B's Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly were in need of a change and Brad Marchand attempted to clear the puck out up the middle. A Canucks defenceman stepped scooted into the zone to keep the puck in and pinned the B's down for another minute. The game winning goal occurred when the B's, tired from a long shift (way to long in the third period of the Cup Finals) tried to change without dumping the puck in with purpose (and not sending at least one forechecker either the last guy off the ice or the first guy on the new line) to challenge the potent Canucks offense. Whether Kessler kept his one foot onside or not, is not important. Johnny Boychuck red the play and stepped up on Kessler. He was unable to tie him up and Kessler put some sauce on a sweet pass across the ice to Janek Hansen. Thomas, as aggressive as usual, came out of the blue paint to challenge Hansen. Chara, instead of covering the trailing Raffi Torres, remained in no man's land and decided to dive in a desperate attempt to block a cross crease pass to Torres (who deposited it past the diving paddle of Tim Thomas).

Should Thomas have respected the pass? Should Chara and Thomas have better communicated? The bottom line is that the Canucks outplayed and wore down the Bruins in the third period. Although the Bruins had better offensive chances throughout the game and outshot the Canucks, they were unable to get quality shots on Roberto Luongo and the ever-crucial second chances off of Luongo's rebounds (Luongo is known for stopping everything he sees, hence the screens, and for being too cumbersome to get many rebounds off his bulky leg pads). The Canucks had better chances coming off of turnovers (especially in the third period) and quick transitions, which resulted in several odd man rushes. If it were not for the superhuman efforts of Tim Thomas, the Nuckers might have put game 1 away by 2 or 3 goals.

That being said, there's no reason for the Bruins to hang their heads. They played well, matching the Canucks for much of the game. I can only hope that Julien can adjust the forecheck to contain the aggressive Canuck attack and the Bruins stick to their defence first game and do not get caught up in the high-flying (read: wearing down the Bruins to commit turnovers in the 3rd) tempo of the Vancouver Canucks. Tim Thomas played like his name belonged on the Conn Smythe Trophy (heck they should name it the Tim Thomas trophy after that one Tuesday night!)

Game 2, Saturday 8pm EST on NBC/CBC/RDS

Go Bruins!!