Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Your Boston Bruins-Vancouver Canucks 2011 Stanley Cup Finals Game 5 primer

Green Men

Vancouver Canuck fans the Green Men, center right, watch the Boston Bruins mascot cheer his team on during the third period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Boston, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. The Bruins won 4-0. The series is tied at 2-2. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

AP

When the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks left Vancouver for Boston in that lengthy flight, it seemed like the Canucks might be primed to take control of the series even though they barely earned their wins. That concept didn’t hold for very long, though, as the Bruins rode the anger and inspiration that came from watching their big goal scorer carted off on a stretcher to turn around this series in a jarringly demonstrative way.

Now the Canucks hope to get their acts back together - and the series lead with it - back in the friendly confines of Rogers Arena. Of course, that venue won’t be a very friendly place to Roberto Luongo if he flops for a third straight game. (If he does start as Alain Vigneault claimed, that is).

Boston @ Vancouver (NBC) - 8 p.m. ET; Series tied 2-2

The only lineup change of note is another shuffling of Vancouver’s defensive sets, as raw rookie Chris Tanev will take Keith Ballard’s place as Ballard coughed up a disturbing array of turnovers. As much as Luongo is (rightly) blamed for letting in some softies and falling apart, the Canucks’ defense hasn’t exactly been rock solid, either.

The Bruins harnessed the negative energy from being down 2-0 and being without Nathan Horton to crush Vancouver at home, but can they duplicate that success on the road? We’ll see soon enough.

For more on this pivotal Game 5, check out this bevy of PHT content.