The Stanley Cup Final is essentially back to zero, and one of these two teams known for bouts of mental fragility will finally shed that tag over the next three games, beginning with Game 5 on Friday at Rogers Arena (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET). Vancouver and its No. 1 goaltender have been mired in funks before, and they're showing classic symptoms after a combined 12-1 ledger in two games in Boston. One wonders how the Canucks and their fans will react if Boston takes the lead on Friday.
The Bruins, after all, are 10-1 when scoring first in the playoffs. The Canucks are 10-2.
Boston has displayed a tendency in the past to rest on laurels that, well, weren't really laurels. A big series lead last year against Philadelphia and a big lead in Game 4 last round against Tampa Bay were cases where the Bruins paid dearly for letting their focus wander.
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"We haven't accomplished anything yet," centre Patrice Bergeron said on Thursday. "The last two games have been the way that we wanted to come out and great games, but that being said, we can't get too high and too low in the playoffs, and we've seen that before."
Thomas, at 749 shots faced, could be in line to break the mark of 820 established by shooters on Canuck Kirk McLean in 1994. Thomas has a stellar 1.26 average and .966 save percentage in the series.
Lost in the rush to use the Nathan Horton injury in Game 3 as a neat and tidy dividing line in the series is the fact that after killing off the ensuing five-minute penalty to Rome on the Horton hit, the Canucks had a couple of great opportunities that could have easily seen them head into the dressing room with a 1-0 lead.
The stat line that no one expected to see at this point — the previously woeful Boston power play has a respectable three goals in four games, while the NHL's No. 1 regular season unit from Vancouver has scored just once in 22 tries.
Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa believes it's a matter of time before the opportunities become results.
"I think we're giving Thomas too much respect," Bieksa said. "He's leaky. Pucks go through him. We've seen it all year. We just need to put more pucks on him."
An interesting stat that shows that Daniel and Henrik Sedin and the rest of the Canucks have a chance to break the Boston's goalie's rhythm: in the nine games after posting shutouts this regular season, Thomas went 8-0-1. But Boston has lost each game after his two previous playoff shutouts this spring.
Game 6 will take place Monday in Boston.
CBC.ca
The Bruins, after all, are 10-1 when scoring first in the playoffs. The Canucks are 10-2.
Boston has displayed a tendency in the past to rest on laurels that, well, weren't really laurels. A big series lead last year against Philadelphia and a big lead in Game 4 last round against Tampa Bay were cases where the Bruins paid dearly for letting their focus wander.
View attachment 12370
"We haven't accomplished anything yet," centre Patrice Bergeron said on Thursday. "The last two games have been the way that we wanted to come out and great games, but that being said, we can't get too high and too low in the playoffs, and we've seen that before."
Thomas, at 749 shots faced, could be in line to break the mark of 820 established by shooters on Canuck Kirk McLean in 1994. Thomas has a stellar 1.26 average and .966 save percentage in the series.
Lost in the rush to use the Nathan Horton injury in Game 3 as a neat and tidy dividing line in the series is the fact that after killing off the ensuing five-minute penalty to Rome on the Horton hit, the Canucks had a couple of great opportunities that could have easily seen them head into the dressing room with a 1-0 lead.
The stat line that no one expected to see at this point — the previously woeful Boston power play has a respectable three goals in four games, while the NHL's No. 1 regular season unit from Vancouver has scored just once in 22 tries.
Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa believes it's a matter of time before the opportunities become results.
"I think we're giving Thomas too much respect," Bieksa said. "He's leaky. Pucks go through him. We've seen it all year. We just need to put more pucks on him."
An interesting stat that shows that Daniel and Henrik Sedin and the rest of the Canucks have a chance to break the Boston's goalie's rhythm: in the nine games after posting shutouts this regular season, Thomas went 8-0-1. But Boston has lost each game after his two previous playoff shutouts this spring.
Game 6 will take place Monday in Boston.
CBC.ca