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Five Thoughts on Vancouver’s Game 1 victory over Boston

Boston Bruins v Vancouver Canucks - Game One

during game one of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Arena on June 1, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada.

Rich Lam

It might not have been the most perpetually exciting Game 1 in Stanley Cup finals history, but it did result in an exciting conclusion with the Vancouver Canucks beating the Boston Bruins 1-0 thanks to a Raffi Torres goal with 18.5 seconds left in the third to take a 1-0 lead in the series. As you might expect, we’ve got a few thoughts on the game.

1. After such a tense Game 1 that saw both teams getting tremendous chances coupled with a meticulous and overly careful pace at times, it all came down to one mistake by Boston and one tremendous play by Ryan Kesler to swing the game. It starts with a missed play by Johnny Boychuk, a tremendous play by Kesler to make sure the play stays onside and then a pair of great passes. Kesler’s pass to Jannik Hansen and then Hansen’s hesitation pass to Raffi Torres to make sure they got Tim Thomas out of position to score the game’s lone goal. Much like Boston’s Game 7 win against Tampa Bay, the game came down to one defensive breakdown, this time it was Boston making the mistake. Of course, hockey can be a fickle game and this one was more about the goaltending than not.

2. Give it up to Roberto Luongo for earning his third shutout of the playoffs. For the third time, he also pitched a shutout in Game 1 of a series. He did it against both Chicago and Nashville as well and last night he more than earned it stopping 36 shots and dealt with having to stare at Zdeno Chara’s behind while the Bruins were on the power play. Luongo has been sharp ever since they’ve beaten Chicago in the first round and his play tonight is further proof that the Luongo we’re watching now is a much more mature and smarter goalie than we’ve seen in the past. Growing up is interesting that way.

3. As for Chara parking in front of the net on the power play, it didn’t do too much for the Bruins success there as they went 0-6 with the man advantage including coming up empty on a 4:00 double minor and a 1:35 5-on-3 power play. While Chara’s presence in front of the net is intimidating and causes vision issues for Luongo, his skills there are in need of sharpening. He’s not exactly Tomas Holmstrom or Dustin Byfuglien in front of the net. In fact, Luongo’s experience in dealing with Byfuglien the last two years is serving him better in how to deal with Chara.

Considering that Boston at one point was putting three defensemen out on the power play with Chara in front and Tomas Kaberle and Dennis Seidenberg on the point, it’s no wonder why the Bruins power play struggled again in Game 1. The Bruins are trying whatever they can to make it work with the power play but they’re still coming up empty. Old problems coming home to roost in the Stanley Cup finals won’t go over well with the fans.

4. One other thing that will go under the microscope for Boston is Claude Julien’s decision to split up Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins were 12-4 with those two teamed up together in the playoffs and the decision to split them up put things a bit out of whack in Game 1. Chara was solid but the Canucks speed started to wear him down. It also caused Seidenberg to take a penalty in the second period and made life miserable on Johnny Boychuk in the third period.

As CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty pointed out to me after the game, Boychuk’s got problems of his own lately as he’s been on the ice for the last seven goals against the Bruins. That’s a major problem considering Tomas Kaberle’s minutes have been up and down and Adam McQuaid is still a bit green. Andrew Ference can be solid at times but isn’t wholly reliable. It’ll be interesting to see if Julien goes back to having one dominant defensive unit or tries to make things work with Chara and Seidenberg split up again.

5. As for Alex Burrows’ chomp on the finger of Patrice Bergeron, it’s an unbelievably dumb move by Burrows. With Burrows situated on the top line with the Sedin twins he can’t be committing stupid mental mistakes like that that distract from what his team is doing on the ice and put him in the box. While the Bruins didn’t score on the power play they gained from that, the likelihood of Burrows being suspended for Game 2 for doing that is high. Burrows played coy in his quotes after the game and Bruins coach Claude Julien called it “classless” but you flat out don’t do that. Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for two games for doing that to Andrew Peters years ago and while the playoffs skew how punishment is likely meted out, our guess is that you can bank on Burrows missing Game 2.

With that likely happening, that means Burrows will be replaced on the top line by any one of Chris Higgins, Mason Raymond, Jeff Tambellini or another forward. That means the Sedins have to run with a new linemate for a game in a situation that demands solid play and perfection to earn a win. Stupidity should be painful and the Canucks might just get to learn a hard lesson thanks to a key player being a selfish buffoon.