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FIve Thoughts: Alex Burrows’ Game 2 heroics a very bad sign for Boston

Boston Bruins v Vancouver Canucks - Game Two

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 04: Alex Burrows #14 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates with Henrik Sedin #33 after scoring a goal in overtime against Zdeno Chara #33 and Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins to win Game Two of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena on June 4, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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Just as it goes with virtually every Stanley Cup finals game there are tons of thoughts that pop up in the aftermath of the game. Game 2 between Boston and Vancouver is no different and with the Canucks winning the game 3-2 in overtime. Storylines abound after such a turn of events.

1. There’s obviously a lot of outrage in Boston today after seeing Alex Burrows play perhaps his best game of the playoffs scoring two goals and adding an assist. It’s very clear to us that the NHL erred in not suspending Burrows for one game and while Bruins coach Claude Julien said the right things after the game there’s no doubt they and the rest of the Bruins have to be furious about it. They must put it out of their heads and then focus that anger into making sure Burrows doesn’t beat them on the ice again.

Allowing Burrows to essentially have his way with them the Bruins looked sadder than anything else. Think of it like seeing the movie “The Karate Kid” and instead of Daniel LaRusso crane kicking Cobra Kai into defeat, Johnny sweeps the leg and ends his miraculous run. If the Canucks continue to outwork, outhustle, and outplay the Bruins and take Game 3 the fans in Vancouver can start calling for that body bag for the Bruins as well as calling for the Stanley Cup.

2. One thing that’s been a severe disappointment for the Bruins is the play of their defense. Last night’s overtime goal came thanks to a bad play from Andrew Ference followed by Zdeno Chara’s inability to cover ground fast enough to catch up with Burrows. The kind of speed that Vancouver has is a major issue for a lot of players the Bruins have and while we’ve seen this be a problem for them in past seasons (think back to Boston getting bounced out by Carolina in 2009) what the Canucks do with their speed and their physicality is something Boston didn’t really deal with too often during the regular season.

The Bruins are used to wearing down teams by roughing them up. Vancouver enjoys that part of the game and even feeds off it at times. That kind of stubborn resilience can be mentally defeating to deal with. Guys like Chara, Ference, Milan Lucic, and Nathan Horton are delivering physically but the hits aren’t enough to get Vancouver to slow down and fall more in line with Boston’s strengths to grind the game out. Vancouver fights through the checks and keeps on motoring. Since there’s nothing legally the Bruins can do to stop them, every game turns into a war of attrition for them. That’s hard to deal with.

3. One thing the Canucks did right last night was get under Tim Thomas’ skin. While Thomas plays great when he’s fired up for a game and playing aggressive, he’s seen moments in the past where his fiery nature got the best of him and caused him to give up a bad goal. While that didn’t happen last night, Thomas got a bit more jumpy and agitated with the way the Canucks buzzed the net and found ways to make contact with him.

Late in the game, Thomas was even complaining at one point about Henrik Sedin’s presence in front of the net while other times the Bruins defense helps shove Canucks forwards into Thomas. The Bruins defense has to do a better job of putting up the wall to protect Thomas. They want him locked into the game but not to the degree where he’s looking to get his own shots in on opponents to avenge previous misgivings. Intensity is good but not when it turns into reckless play.

4. The Bruins’ top line will need to have more of a presence if they’re going to come back in this series. David Krejci, Nathan Horton, and Milan Lucic combined for seven shots on goal in Game 2 after piling up 13 all together in Game 1. While Lucic was able to get a goal thanks to their work in front of the net, seeing Krejci come away with four shots while Horton had just one is disappointing. When you’re the top line you have to do more, always. Vancouver’s top line was lights out in Game 2 in leading the way to victory. That sort of effort and skill is what it takes to win. While Roberto Luongo is having a lot to say about that line’s lack of success for Boston, they’ll need to do more of what they started in Game 2 from here on out. Scoring a grimy goal on a rebound by holding your ground looks just as good on the scoreboard as the highlight reel one does.

5. Vancouver’s work in the third period is becoming the thing of legend for them. Their depth and the way their lineup has been juggled this year have provided them with many challenges this year but they’ve been resilient all year long and their stamina late in games is astounding. Vancouver continues to find ways to battle hard to the end and pull games out late. Coming back to beat Boston in overtime is something no team had done to them yet in the playoffs. Boston was 4-0 in overtime games in the playoffs before last night. That’s a rough time to take your first defeat.

Vancouver, however, has been doing this sort of thing all playoffs long in either finding ways to comeback late in games or finishing teams off. That sort of toughness is what makes them so hard to beat and Boston is now finding this out the hard way. Giving up the game-winning goal with 18 seconds left to play in Game 1 and now Game 2’s overtime winner coming just 11 seconds in are excruciating ways to lose.