Stanley Cup Pick: Bruins Poised to Even Series Against Reeling Canucks
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
By Gordon P. Quinn
With Nathan Horton laying motionless on the ice, conventional wisdom suggested if the Boston Bruins could pick themselves up in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Boy, did they ever. Mark Recchi collected a pair of goals as the Bruins scored four times in both the second and third periods to cruise to an 8-1 home triumph over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
The offensive outburst represented the most goals scored in a Stanley Cup Finals contest since the Colorado Avalanche breezed to an 8-1 rout over the Florida Panthers 15 years ago. Boston will look to even the series at two games apiece when the teams reconvene for Game 4 at TD Garden on Wednesday.
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After becoming the oldest player in NHL history to score in the Stanley Cup Finals, the 43-year-old Recchi followed his Game 2 performance with two more goals on Monday. Boston improved to 8-3 at TD Garden during this postseason. Netminder Tim Thomas turned aside 40 shots and provided an exclamation point on the performance by leveling Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin nearly seven minutes into the third period.
Horton left the ice on a stretcher just 5:07 into the first period after he was on the receiving end of a brutal hit from Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome. With Horton sidelined for the remainder of the series with a concussion, rookie Tyler Seguin - who was a healthy scratch on Monday - will be reinserted into the lineup.
Rome received a five-minute major and a game misconduct and will miss the remainder of the series following his exchange with Horton. With fellow defenseman Dan Hamhuis still injured from his run-in with Boston's Milan Lucic, expensive scratch Keith Ballard may see his first action of the series.
Henrik Sedin has failed to record a shot in this series. By comparison, the Reigning Hart Trophy winner collected one goal and 11 assists in the Canucks' five-game series victory over the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference final. Roberto Luongo, who made 30 saves, allowed all eight goals in Game 3.
Boston center David Krejci, who had a goal and an assist in Game 3, leads all NHL players with 11 postseason goals. Krejci has scored 10 goals and set up nine others in his last 14 games. Vancouver right wing Jannik Hansen netted his team's lone goal on Monday. After scoring in the Canucks' first two games of the playoffs, the 25-year-old Denmark native went 18 straight contests without a goal.
Boston, which went 2-for-4 on the power play in Game 3, is now 3-for-13 with the man advantage in the series. Prior to Recchi's first goal of the night, the Bruins had scored just once in their last 24 power-play opportunities. Vancouver, which went 0-for-8 in Game 3, is just 1-for-16 with the man advantage in this series. In addition, the Canucks permitted a pair of shorthanded goals on Monday.
The Bruins can either tie the series or end up going to Vancouver down three games to one. It would be hard to imagine the B’s overcoming such a deficit, so the level of desperation has to be high on tonight.
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The Pick: Boston Bruins
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aaron rome - boston bruins - dan hamhuis - david krejci - henrik sedin - jannik hansen - keith ballard - mark recchi - milan lucic - nathan horton
