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Bruins explode in second period to take commanding 4-0 lead in Game 3

Vancouver Canucks v Boston Bruins - Game Three

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 06: Rich Peverley #49 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with his teammates Zdeno Chara #33, Andrew Ference #21, Mark Recchi #28 and Michael Ryder #73 after a goal in the second period against Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks during Game Three of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 6, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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After an ugly first period for Boston that saw them fail on a major power play after Nathan Horton was knocked out of the game by a late hit, the Bruins needed a big start in the second. They got exactly that and then some as their special teams came to life to give Boston a 4-0 lead after two periods.

Andrew Ference got it all started just, coincidentally, 11 seconds into the period ripping a shot from the blue line past Roberto Luongo, glancing off his shoulder and into the upper corner of the net to make it 1-0. Just 4:11 later it would be the Bruins getting it done on the power play as Mark Recchi tipped home a Michael Ryder pass through Luongo to make it 2-0.

The period would wear on and eventually Vancouver would get a power play of their own thanks to a slashing call on Milan Lucic but the Bruins forecheck would frustrate defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and Alexander Edler and they would commit a turnover to Brad Marchand who converted on a beauty of a deke to beat Luongo and make it 3-0 at the 11:30 mark.

4:17 later the Bruins would add their fourth of the period as David Krejci sniped home a rebound and send the TD Garden crowd into a frenzy staking the Bruins to a 4-0 lead. A late Johnny Boychuk double-minor would make things interesting at 17:36 of the period, but as the second wound down the Bruins would not crack as Tim Thomas made 16 saves in the second period alone. Roberto Luongo countered with just ten saves of his own in the second. The Bruins will need to kill off another 1:36 of power play time to start the third.

With the Bruins up 4-0 the thing to keep an eye on in the third is whether or not the Canucks can do anything to beat Thomas and whether or not we’ll see things pick up in the chippiness. With the game being almost totally out of hand for a Vancouver comeback, they might be looking to do something to set the tone for Game 4.

The Bruins secret star for this game has been none other than Shawn Thornton. Thornton got the surprise start for tonight’s game over Tyler Seguin and he’s brought his “A” game playing smart and physical and helping his line sustain pressure and frustrate the Canucks. We might not see Seguin again in these playoffs if Thornton keeps this up.