Vancouver one victory away from Lord Stanley’s Cup
VANCOUVER – Oh it feels good to be home. The intensity of playoff hockey returned to the Vancouver Canucks as they dished out 47 hits, scored the games only goal in the third period and Roberto Luongo answered his critics with a shutout in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to bring his team one win away from its first championship. ESPN recap
Maxim Lapierre scored off a deflection off the board from Kevin Bieska early in the third period and Luongo made 31 saves for his fourth shutout of the playoffs and second 1-0 victory in the finals.
Vancouver set the tone early with 23 hits in the first period to Boston’s 13. Both goalies were sharp throughout the game as both offenses were turned away time after time. Mason Raymond had six shots on goal but nothing to show for his effort. His best chance came as he drove down the lane and received a leading pass from Ryan Kesler, skated past a defender and got a clean shot on Thomas, who made the initial save but left a rebound for Raymond, who was denied on his second shot.
Midway through the second period with the game still scoreless, Vancouver fourth line forward Tanner Glass had the opportunity of a lifetime, missing a wide-open net when he took his eyes of the puck and whiffed right over it.
The game was scoreless after 40 minutes, reminiscent of Game 1 when Vancouver scored the only goal with just seconds remaining in an intense grudge match.
Five minutes into the third period, Lapierre took a shot from the left side saved by Thomas, but the Canucks kept it in the zone where Bieska intentionally fired a ricochet off the back board pulling Thomas to the right and the puck went right to Lapierre who scored in the open net past a sprawling Thomas for the games first goal.
Bieksa used Thomas’ aggressive style against him when he fired the shot wide. Knowing how far he plays out of his net, he deliberately put a long shot wide of the goal to get him out of position while Lapierre waited near the goal to knock it in.
Luongo held on from there, stopping 10 shots in the final period from the Bruins to hold on for the win. It was the second time he posted a 1-0 shutout in the finals, the first goalie in history to do so. Boston went 0-5 on the power-play.
Luongo receives more criticism than almost any goalie at his level in the league, yet has bounced back in strong performances throughout the postseason. He came back from a one-game benching in the first round against Chicago with a 2-1 victory in Game 7, and coach Alain Vigneault stuck by Luongo in the finals, despite giving up 12 goals in two brutal games in Boston.
A few trends continued in the series--The home team has won every game in the finals and the first team to score has gone on to win the game. All three games in Vancouver have been close, one goal margins of victory, while both games in Boston have been blowouts. What will Game 6 have in store? Can the Canucks turn their fortunes around in Boston and win their first Stanley Cup in a hostile Beantown environment? Can Luongo quiet his critics and win a pressure packed road game? One thing is for sure, Lord Stanley’s Cup will be in the building for Game 6.
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