After all the talk about whether or not Alex Burrows should’ve been suspended for his bite on Patrice Bergeron in Game 1, it just figures that he makes his mark in Game 2 early, only this time without his teeth.
At 12:12 of the period with the Canucks on a power play thanks to a Zdeno Chara interference penalty, Burrows snapped home a pass from Chris Higgins and past Tim Thomas to put the Canucks ahead 1-0. Before the game, NBC’s Mike Milbury let his feelings be known about how he feels the NHL dropped the ball in not punishing Burrows for his Game 1 bite.
Milbury’s point is spot on and letting a play like that go unpunished is inexcusable, much in the same way the league erred in not punishing Boston’s Nathan Horton for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals for spraying Lightning fans with a water bottle after the Bruins Game 6 loss. Coincidentally enough, Horton scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 so it’s a bit of karmic justice that Burrows scores for Vancouver tonight.
Tim Thomas stopped 10 shots in the period while Roberto Luongo stopped all 11 he saw in the first period. Johnny Boychuk was also on the ice for that Vancouver goal which means he’s now been on the ice for the last eight goals allowed by Boston. He can’t blame himself for this one though as it was Ference’s bad clearing attempt that led to the goal.
Boston is getting outskated so far in Game 2 and Vancouver’s pressure on the forecheck early on is reminiscent of what Tampa Bay did to Boston in Game 1 of the Eastern finals. Boston’s going to have to be quicker and smarter with their passes to get around Vancouver and turn the tide in their favor in the second period.