VANCOUVER � NHL coaches like to say that teams create their own breaks and bounces, and Kevin Bieska has put the Vancouver Canucks in position to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history by doing exactly that.
By Darryl Dyck, AP
Vancouver Canucks right wing Maxim Lapierre scores on Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas for the lone goal of the game.
By Darryl Dyck, AP
Vancouver Canucks right wing Maxim Lapierre scores on Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas for the lone goal of the game.
Bieksa purposely missed the net with a shot from the point and the puck caromed directly to Maxim Lapierre, who banked a shot off goalie Tim Thomas for the third-period game winner as the Canucks beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
"I was trying to put it off the wall to get the bounce," Bieksa said. "Obviously, I'm not a geometry whiz so I didn't know exactly where ? but I was hoping it would go somewhere in front of the net."
-
GAME REPORT: Canucks 1, Bruins 0
-
PHOTO GALLERY: Top images from the Final
Leading 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, the Canucks, who entered the league in 1970, can end their championship drought by winning Monday in Boston.
"I think we know it's going to be the biggest game of our life in Boston," Lapierre said, "and Boston is going to be ready.
The Lapierre goal, netted at 4:35 of the third period, was all goalie Roberto Luongo needed as he made 31 saves to record his second shutout of the series. He also won Game 1 by a 1-0 decision. His stingy netminding came after the city of Vancouver spent 24 hours debating whether Luongo should be replaced by Cory Schneider. Luongo had given up 12 goals in a little more than five periods in Games 3 and 4 in Boston.
Stanley Cup Final schedule
Canucks lead series 3-2
Game 1: Canucks 1, Bruins 0
Game 2: Canucks 3, Bruins 2 (OT)
Game 3: Bruins 8, Canucks 1
Game 4: Bruins 4, Canucks 0
Game 5: Canucks 1, Bruins 0
June 13: at Boston, 8 (NBC)
x-June 15: at Vancouver, 8 (NBC)
x-if necessary. All times ET
Vancouver forward Alex Burrows said he knew Luongo was ready for the game when he announced he was going to take a pre-game walk along the seawall with fans already milling about the city.
"I knew right then he had confidence and nothing was going to faze him tonight," Burrows said.
Luongo joked later: "I don't know if they have any seawalls in Boston, but I'm going to look for them."
Luongo looked out of rhythm in Boston, and he looked like a solid wall at home where the Canucks are now 3-0 in the series.
"We expected this out of him," Bieksa said. "It's no surprise. He's a big-time goalie who had done it on the big stage. You can't blame him for what happened in Boston."
Lapierre isn't always loved for his playing style because of his theatrics and drama in trying to draw penalties. The Montreal Canadiens traded him to Anaheim earlier this season, and it's fair to say that the Ducks didn't much like his style and traded him to Vancouver. But he was a hero in Vancouver on Friday.
"Max has had some big goals in the playoffs," Bieksa said. "His skill is very underrated."
The Bruins have held the Canucks to six goals in five games, shut down the Sedin twins, limiting them to just two points in five games. But they have lost three one-goal games in Vancouver.
The home team has won all five games in the series, and over the last six years, the home team is 28-8 (77.7%) at home in the Final.
In NHL history, when a series has been tied 2-2 in the Final, the team winning Game 5 has gone on to capture the Stanley Cup 71% of the time.
"Give credit to the goaltender," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He played well tonight, but we certainly didn't make it as hard on him as we did in the last two games at home. Those are things that I remember the most from this game that certainly we could have done better."
Before Lapierre scored, the Canucks' best scoring chance had come when Vancouver's Tanner Glass fanned on the puck with a wide-open net in front of him with 7:16 to go in the second period.
The Canucks didn't score in the second period, but they did seem to gain some momentum. They had some good scoring chances on the power play after Adam McQuaid was called for holding at 7:22 of the period.
For the rest of the period, the Canucks were able to pressure the Bruins, although Thomas was able to shut them out for the first 40 minutes. Thomas has given up two goals in his past nine periods.
Thomas had his moments, including one in the opening six minutes of the game when he stopped Mason Raymond as he drove the net.
In the first period, the Canucks had to kill three Boston power plays.
Posted | Updated
No comments:
Post a Comment