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Graceful victor? Roberto Luongo says he would’ve stopped the shot that beat Tim Thomas

Boston Bruins v Vancouver Canucks - Game Five

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 10: Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks talks to the media after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Five of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena on June 10, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

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It’s always something in these Stanley Cup finals.

Tonight, Roberto Luongo played brilliant in stopping all 31 shots he faced in Game 5 en route to a 1-0 Canucks victory over Boston and earning his fourth playoff shutout in the process.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas too played great in stopping 24 out of 25 shots but Maxim Lapierre’s game-winning goal in the third period eluded him when Kevin Bieksa purposefully shot one off the end boards to get it to Lapierre for the goal.

After the game, Luongo was asked about his play and what he thought of Lapierre’s goal. As should be expected out of these two teams, things are never let go without a little something extra added on top of it.

Q. Roberto, can you talk about from a goalie’s perspective how difficult it is to play a shot off the endboard?

ROBERTO LUONGO: It’s not hard if you’re playing in the paint. It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen. He might make some saves that I won’t, but in a case like that, we want to take advantage of a bounce like that and make sure we’re in a good position to bury those.


Clearly Luongo is taking a shot at Tim Thomas and how he’s able to play aggressively and successfully. On paper, it looks like a ruthless pot shot but Luongo attempted to dial it back by saying Thomas can make some saves that he won’t but by that point the cat was already out of the bag and now the Bruins have a little extra juice to use heading into a crucial Game 6.

For Luongo, it’s incredible that he’d say anything after the fiasco his previous two starts were in Boston. For a guy that’s only looked strong at home in the Stanley Cup finals, it’s incredible that he’d give Boston any further motivation for Game 6. After all, if Luongo had played as steady and as strong as Thomas has in every game, perhaps the Canucks are already celebrating winning the Stanley Cup.

Instead, Luongo’s no-show act in Boston in Games 3 and 4 have given the Bruins what they need to still be in the series and with how they’ve played at home, it’s hard to think that Vancouver won’t be playing in two more games this year. After all, Boston outscored Vancouver 12-1 in those games at TD Garden with Luongo on the hook for all 12 goals against.

If Luongo wants to continue talking smack like this, he’d be best served by bringing his Vancouver game to Boston in Game 6. Getting lit up one more time in Boston and opening it up for a Game 7 puts himself, his team, and his reputation all on the line in the most maddening way possible. It only makes sense that this series that’s seen so much off-ice drama gets one more heaping spoonful of it. At most we’ve got two games left and at the least we’ve got one more silly off-ice talking point to shout about until Game 6 drops the puck on Monday night.