The Bruins are poised to play their first Stanley Cup Final Game 7 in the history of the franchise. With a win, they would become the first team in NHL Stanley Cup Playoff history to win three Game 7s in the same in the same season.
With the game now less than 24 hours away, the Bruins are excited rather than feeling pressure.
?I wouldn't call it pressure like that," said Tim Thomas. "It's more we want to win. We want to win. We want all the work that we've put into this whole season -- and this whole playoffs -- to payoff and accomplish thatgoal we've set ourselves towards, which is winning the Stanley Cup. I can only speak for myself, but I'm not thinking of it as pressure. I'm thinking of it more of this is the reality. The series is tied 3-3; Game 7 tomorrow; we're on the road; we have to find a way to win this game to get what we want. We all know what that is.?
Here are five things the Bruins will have to do to get what they want. And yes, Timmy, we all know what that is.
THIRD LINE THRILL
The Bruins will need a productive game from Boston?s third line. They could even get with a possible game-winning goal from Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly or Tyler Seguin late in Game 7.
Vancouver?s third line has been a major factor and won them a pair of games ? Game 1 and Game 5 to be exact ? by becoming a physical presence and then taking advantage of random bounces in the closing moments of those games. Raffi Torres, Jannik Hansen and the despicable Maxim Lapierre were heroes in those games, but that shouldn't happen again.
ATTACK IN WAVES
The Bruins are winning the war of attrition and wearing down the Vancouver skaters with punishing body hits, withering physicality, and the grinding nature of their fore-check.
The body check beating has begun to truly affect the depth of the Canucks at both the forward and defensemen spots. The losses of Dan Hamhuis and Aaron Rome took a bit out of the defensemen depth, and Alex Edler was hurt in the third period of Game 6.
The biggest loss to date is on the front line, however. The Canucks will be missing a key component in Raymond after he suffered a compressed vertebra injury in an awkward collision with Johnny Boychuk during the first period of Game 6. He was a huge part of the Ryan Kesler/Chris Higgins checking line that had kept the Bruins down.
Wednesday night?s game is expected to be nip and tuck all the way, and both top lines will likely cancel each other out. The Mason Raymond injury has forced Vancouver to bump Hansen up to the second shutdown line with Chris Higgins and Ryan Kesler. That leaves the B's third line with some responsibility.
There is simply a point where that Bruins' line needs to emerge on the road -- especially with both of the top two lines canceling each other out -- and this is it.
Raymond wasn?t putting up big offensive numbers, but he?s one of Vancouver?s tougher players and was a big part of the reason B?s offensive players like Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron have been held down at Rogers Arena. With Raymond out of the equation, the Bruins will be able to play with more speed and attack closer to the net on Roberto Luongo.
START, FINISH STRONG
The Bruins have enjoyed pretty good starts in each of the three road games against the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final, and clearly they?ve remained close in a string of three one-goal losses.
But there?s been a pattern to all three games played in Vancouver?s barn. The Canucks have been able to get on the board first in each of the three games, and that is never a harbinger of good things to come for the Black and Gold. The Bruins are now 11-1 when they score first during the playoffs, and the Canucks are 11-2 when scoring first in the postseason. Both teams want to be front runners and it?s a little bit of a race to see who will draw first blood in Game 7.
But it goes beyond simply lighting the lamp first: The Bruins have also lost each of the third period battles in Vancouver while getting outshot and outscored 3-0 in the final 20 minutes of the previous three games played at Rogers Arena. The B?s players have complained at times about not having their legs in the final 20 minutes of these games on the other side of the continent from Boston, but there won?t be any acceptable excuses in a Game 7 situation.
GET IN LUONGO'S HEAD
The Bruins need to get inside Roberto Luongo?s magical seawall and turn it into some kind of water theme park disaster for the marine-loving goaltender.
The Vancouver goalie has been marvelous at home while surrendering two goals in three games and outdueling Tim Thomas in a pair of 1-0 games at Rogers Arena. It?s easily conceivable that the mentally-erratic Vancouver goaltender will bounce back strongly after taking another serene walk along the Vancouver seawall with his hoodie tied tight and his earphones sure to be jamming some kind of strange motivational speak.
But Luongo has also coughed up 16 goals at TD Garden, shown a habit of giving up when pressured hard by the Bruins and still has never been fully tested by the B?s skaters in any of the previous three games in Vancouver. It?s time for the Bruins to make Bobby Lou feel pressure from the outset of the game, and begin to battle those doubts that are undoubtedly creeping into his head over the last 48 hours.
After all, there?s only so much Luongo tire-pumping that can take place while the Canucks travel from Boston all the way back to their British Columbia home.
FIERY FORWARDS
Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand need to be invested emotionally and physically for the Bruins to pressure the Canucks goalie, intimidate the their players and push Vancouver over the edge in a Game 7 grudge match.
While looking like he-men at home within the friendly confines of the TD Garden, the Bruins have yet to bring their Black and Gold schoolyard bully act into Rogers Arena during any of the road games played thus far in the Stanley Cup Final.
Lucic has alternated between good and bad during the Finals, but was at his best in Game 4 after watching his buddy Nathan Horton go down due to a vicious head shot. Lucic needs to tap into the physicality that made him such a feared junior hockey player in the Vancouver area, and perhaps needs only to look at his ?MVP Shift? a few thousand times on YouTube before puck drop on Wednesday night. That is the No. 17 that the Bruins need to show up on the ice if they hope to push Vancouver offensively with Horton out of the lineup.
The B?s also need Marchand to annoy, irritate, attack and create offensively just as he did during the Game 6 win in Boston. His fearless attacks at the net exposed Roberto Luongo?s glove side, and his gloved jabs to the face of Daniel Sedin sent out a statement that the Bruins are going to continue manhandling the passive Canucks players in a Game 7 scenario where men are rewarded with hockey immortality, while posers and pretenders are relegated to sitting and watching what might have been had they ?manned up.?
The Bruins are 8-0 when Brad Marchand scores a goal during these playoffs as well, so if Marchand scores the first goal of the game, statistics say it should be lights out for Vancouver.
--comcastsportsnet
With the game now less than 24 hours away, the Bruins are excited rather than feeling pressure.
?I wouldn't call it pressure like that," said Tim Thomas. "It's more we want to win. We want to win. We want all the work that we've put into this whole season -- and this whole playoffs -- to payoff and accomplish thatgoal we've set ourselves towards, which is winning the Stanley Cup. I can only speak for myself, but I'm not thinking of it as pressure. I'm thinking of it more of this is the reality. The series is tied 3-3; Game 7 tomorrow; we're on the road; we have to find a way to win this game to get what we want. We all know what that is.?
Here are five things the Bruins will have to do to get what they want. And yes, Timmy, we all know what that is.
THIRD LINE THRILL
The Bruins will need a productive game from Boston?s third line. They could even get with a possible game-winning goal from Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly or Tyler Seguin late in Game 7.
Vancouver?s third line has been a major factor and won them a pair of games ? Game 1 and Game 5 to be exact ? by becoming a physical presence and then taking advantage of random bounces in the closing moments of those games. Raffi Torres, Jannik Hansen and the despicable Maxim Lapierre were heroes in those games, but that shouldn't happen again.
ATTACK IN WAVES
The Bruins are winning the war of attrition and wearing down the Vancouver skaters with punishing body hits, withering physicality, and the grinding nature of their fore-check.
The body check beating has begun to truly affect the depth of the Canucks at both the forward and defensemen spots. The losses of Dan Hamhuis and Aaron Rome took a bit out of the defensemen depth, and Alex Edler was hurt in the third period of Game 6.
The biggest loss to date is on the front line, however. The Canucks will be missing a key component in Raymond after he suffered a compressed vertebra injury in an awkward collision with Johnny Boychuk during the first period of Game 6. He was a huge part of the Ryan Kesler/Chris Higgins checking line that had kept the Bruins down.
Wednesday night?s game is expected to be nip and tuck all the way, and both top lines will likely cancel each other out. The Mason Raymond injury has forced Vancouver to bump Hansen up to the second shutdown line with Chris Higgins and Ryan Kesler. That leaves the B's third line with some responsibility.
There is simply a point where that Bruins' line needs to emerge on the road -- especially with both of the top two lines canceling each other out -- and this is it.
Raymond wasn?t putting up big offensive numbers, but he?s one of Vancouver?s tougher players and was a big part of the reason B?s offensive players like Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron have been held down at Rogers Arena. With Raymond out of the equation, the Bruins will be able to play with more speed and attack closer to the net on Roberto Luongo.
START, FINISH STRONG
The Bruins have enjoyed pretty good starts in each of the three road games against the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final, and clearly they?ve remained close in a string of three one-goal losses.
But there?s been a pattern to all three games played in Vancouver?s barn. The Canucks have been able to get on the board first in each of the three games, and that is never a harbinger of good things to come for the Black and Gold. The Bruins are now 11-1 when they score first during the playoffs, and the Canucks are 11-2 when scoring first in the postseason. Both teams want to be front runners and it?s a little bit of a race to see who will draw first blood in Game 7.
But it goes beyond simply lighting the lamp first: The Bruins have also lost each of the third period battles in Vancouver while getting outshot and outscored 3-0 in the final 20 minutes of the previous three games played at Rogers Arena. The B?s players have complained at times about not having their legs in the final 20 minutes of these games on the other side of the continent from Boston, but there won?t be any acceptable excuses in a Game 7 situation.
GET IN LUONGO'S HEAD
The Bruins need to get inside Roberto Luongo?s magical seawall and turn it into some kind of water theme park disaster for the marine-loving goaltender.
The Vancouver goalie has been marvelous at home while surrendering two goals in three games and outdueling Tim Thomas in a pair of 1-0 games at Rogers Arena. It?s easily conceivable that the mentally-erratic Vancouver goaltender will bounce back strongly after taking another serene walk along the Vancouver seawall with his hoodie tied tight and his earphones sure to be jamming some kind of strange motivational speak.
But Luongo has also coughed up 16 goals at TD Garden, shown a habit of giving up when pressured hard by the Bruins and still has never been fully tested by the B?s skaters in any of the previous three games in Vancouver. It?s time for the Bruins to make Bobby Lou feel pressure from the outset of the game, and begin to battle those doubts that are undoubtedly creeping into his head over the last 48 hours.
After all, there?s only so much Luongo tire-pumping that can take place while the Canucks travel from Boston all the way back to their British Columbia home.
FIERY FORWARDS
Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand need to be invested emotionally and physically for the Bruins to pressure the Canucks goalie, intimidate the their players and push Vancouver over the edge in a Game 7 grudge match.
While looking like he-men at home within the friendly confines of the TD Garden, the Bruins have yet to bring their Black and Gold schoolyard bully act into Rogers Arena during any of the road games played thus far in the Stanley Cup Final.
Lucic has alternated between good and bad during the Finals, but was at his best in Game 4 after watching his buddy Nathan Horton go down due to a vicious head shot. Lucic needs to tap into the physicality that made him such a feared junior hockey player in the Vancouver area, and perhaps needs only to look at his ?MVP Shift? a few thousand times on YouTube before puck drop on Wednesday night. That is the No. 17 that the Bruins need to show up on the ice if they hope to push Vancouver offensively with Horton out of the lineup.
The B?s also need Marchand to annoy, irritate, attack and create offensively just as he did during the Game 6 win in Boston. His fearless attacks at the net exposed Roberto Luongo?s glove side, and his gloved jabs to the face of Daniel Sedin sent out a statement that the Bruins are going to continue manhandling the passive Canucks players in a Game 7 scenario where men are rewarded with hockey immortality, while posers and pretenders are relegated to sitting and watching what might have been had they ?manned up.?
The Bruins are 8-0 when Brad Marchand scores a goal during these playoffs as well, so if Marchand scores the first goal of the game, statistics say it should be lights out for Vancouver.
--comcastsportsnet
