Bruins crush Canucks to even Stanley Cup Finals

Boston lights up Luongo for 12 goals in two games

BOSTON – Things got ugly for the Vancouver Canucks on the road in Boston as they were blown out in Games 3 and 4, outscored by the Bruins 12-1 to even the Stanley Cup Finals at 2-2. The Canucks were outplayed in all facets of the game and seemed disinterested in matching the physical fast paced game the Bruins displayed. ESPN Stanley Cup Finals coverage

GAME 3: Bruins 8 Canucks 1

The Bruins offense erupted after a vicious late hit by Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome knocked out Bruins top-line forward Nathan Horton early in the first period of Game 3. Rome was given a game misconduct penalty for the hit and eventually suspended for the rest of the series.

While the Bruins were unable to score on the ensuing five minute power-play, their fortunes changes early in the second period. Right off the faceoff, which the Canucks won, defenseman Alex Edler’s stick broke and the puck ended up in Boston’s possession where 11 seconds later Andrew Ference fired a shot near the blue line past Roberto Luongo for a goal.

The bad luck continued for Vancouver when Ryan Kesler attempted to break up a pass in the crease but knocked the puck in on his own goal. Marc Recchi got credit for the power-play goal and the Bruins had a 2-0 lead.

Later in the second period on a Vancouver power-play, Bruins forward Brad Marchand intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and took it all the way in, skating past Luongo and firing the puck over his shoulder for a pretty short-handed goal. David Krejci added a goal for Boston who scored four goals in the second period.

            The Bruins piled it on in the third with four more goals in eight minutes, three of which were scored in the final two minutes. It was surprising to see Luongo in goal with the game already decided. The defense in front of him seemed to quit and Luongo looked like Swiss cheese when the horn sounded. Janick Hansen stopped the bleeding for Vancouver’s only goal of the game in an 8-1 drubbing.

            The Canucks showed their frustration as both teams combined for 145 penalty minutes, second most in a Stanley Cup finals game. Daniel Sedin was given a 10-minute game misconduct as he seemed fed up with Marchand’s abuse and wrapped his hands around his neck. Burrows was repeatedly knocked around and booed from the crowd as public enemy number one after his infamous bite in Game 1 and first star performance in Game 2. Burrows, Kesler, Lapierre were all given game misconducts in the third period as the referee tried to stop any fights from getting out of hand near the end of the game.

Later in the final period, Boston's Shawn Thornton threw his stick up the Bruins' tunnel in anger at the officials after getting his own misconduct penalty. Thornton did a great job of laying the lumber, putting huge hits on Burrows and getting under the Canucks skin.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas had 40 saves and one big hit. He got the Boston crowd on its feet with a two-handed check of Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin, knocking the playoffs scoring leader flat on his back while he tried to catch a puck that popped into the air in front of Thomas' crease.

In all the Bruins scored two shorthanded goals and two power-play goals while the Canucks continued to struggle with special teams play. Even though the Canucks lost by a large margin, they still led the series 2-1.

GAME 4: Bruins 4 Canucks 0

Boston carried the momentum from a blowout Game 3 win with another dominant performance shutting out Vancouver 4-0. The injury that knocked Nathan Horton out of the series only seemed to fuel Boston’s desire to win for their fallen teammate. Rich Peverley replaced Horton on the first line and he stepped up with two goals, while Tim Thomas made 38 saves for his third shutout in the playoffs. Michael Ryder and Brad Marchand also scored and the Bruins chased Roberto Luongo early in the third period after he allowed his 12th goal in two brutal games in Boston.

Luongo gave up four goals on just 20 shots before Cory Schneider replaced him. Vancouver suffered another shaky defensive performance and looked passionless in Boston.

The physical skirmishes between both teams brought warnings from the NHL about keeping their competition between the whistles. However, the two teams continued the extra-curricular activity in the third period, fueled mostly by Vancouver’s frustration to get any shots past Thomas. Vancouver mustered only one goal scored in the two road games and five goals in four games. Thomas delighted Boston's fans when he slashed Vancouver agitator Alex Burrows with 1:51 to play, starting another brawl.

After losing top blueliner Dan Hamhuis to an injury in Game 1, the Canucks have been awful on defense. Add Aaron Rome’s suspension for the rest of the series and all the defensive pairings have been altered. Keith Ballard struggled as Rome's replacement, making a brutal turnover on Boston's third goal right by the net, but Vancouver played careless team defense in front of Luongo, who has continued his reputation for struggling in big games. Despite being the Gold winning goalie for Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics played in Vancouver, outside of Rogers Arena he has developed a mental block in big games that has affected his performance.

Boston took control during 4-on-4 play when Patrice Bergeron forced Ballard's turnover behind the Canucks' net and chipped it in front to Marchand, who easily scored over Luongo's left shoulder. The Boston crowd serenaded Vancouver with chants of "Luonnnngo! Luonnnngo!"

Vancouver's power play, the NHL's best in the regular season, also been flipped upside down, going 0 for 6 in Game 4 and fell to 1 for 22 in the finals. The Sedin twins, the past two scoring champions and top power-play tandem have been non-existent in the Stanley Cup Finals, outmatched by Zdeno Chara and Boston’s physical defense.

Vancouver started the first period strong, out shooting Boston over the first 30 minutes of Game 4, but few were solid scoring chances. Most of the shots went straight at Thomas, who was flawless, particularly on an early point-blank chance from Maxim Lapierre.

            Now that a two game series lead has evaporated in Boston, Vancouver must regroup in Game 5 at home to take control of the finals before the Stanley Cup slips from their grasp.