21 years of waiting and it all comes down to a blown off-sides call and a...bitten finger?The mood for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals - the first for Boston since 1990 - reminded me very much like college graduation week for me, only a year ago...You trudge through a couple decades of schooling, experiencing many ups and downs along the way, work hard during the final years, survive through all of that hard work, and then one day you wake up like it was all a blur and you're standing in a robe on a big stage somewhere...Ok so maybe the reason I was blurry wasn't all from "hard work", but you catch my drift.
The Bruins coasted through a couple decades, certainly experienced their ups and downs (maybe a few more downs than ups in that span), worked very hard during the past few years (Re: a few more downs), survived through 3 hard-fought series over 6 or 7 weeks, and then BOOM: they're standing in sweaters on the biggest stage in professional hockey somewhere...in Canada.
And while I was in a blur thinking about the Bruins actually being in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in my life (that I can actually remember), the Bruins were in their own blur when the puck dropped in Vancouver.
The Canucks came out flying - much like everyone thought they would - getting great look after great look at Timmy Thomas very early on. Fortunately for the B's, however, Timmy Thomas came out much like everyone thought he would - on. his. head. Tim Thomas played 59:41.5 minutes of unstoppable goaltending. One phenomenal save after another phenomenal save. This game was just another example of why Thomas is the surefire winner of the Vezina Trophy - an award he is bound to win over counterpart Roberto Luongo. Yes, Luongo earned the shutout tonight, but let's be honest, he didn't face nearly as many difficult shots as Thomas did. The Canucks pelted the American netminder from all sides of the ice. The Bruins...well...shot the puck 36 times. In fact, this Game 1 reminded me much of the Montreal series Game 1: not a lot of great scoring opportunities for the B's and a stellar effort from Thomas wasted down the drain.
The silver lining here is that the Bruins historically have woken up out of this offensive funk later in the series. The grey lining is that the Bruins have yet to wake up out of the deep coma that is their so-called power play.
I heard much ado tonight from postgame analyzers about how the PP seems to be getting better. Well, I got news for you, analyzers: now is not the time to be getting "better" at any aspect of play. That's what the regular season is for. This is the Stanley Cup finals, for crying out loud! The Bruins need to be 100% at everything they do or else stay home. Look at the Canucks - they're 1st in PP, as well as most other offensive categories. It's no wonder they are where they are. The Bruins? Well they are where they are because of hard work around the boards, making the right passes around the net, and making the necessary plays in the defensive zone...under one condition:it must be full strength, 5 on 5 play.
Sure, they've "improved" over the course of the playoffs on the PP, going from 0 goals in the MTL series to 2 in the PHI series to 3 in the TB series. But how many of those were systematic power play goals? How many of those were clutch power play goals? That is, how many of the 5 PP goals that the Bruins have scored this playoff were goals that they should have scored and/or NEEDED to score. I distinctly remember their first PP goal coming on a 5on3 at the very end of a game vs. the Flyers in the second round. Systematic? Yes. Clutch? No. The Bruins had wrapped up the game by then. I can't remember the B's scoring a PP goal in which they should have scored and more importantly, REALLY needed to score.
Tonight was the perfect example. An early double minor penalty from Daniel Sedin resulted in 4 long minutes for the Bruins to make something happen. Did they? Nope. Then, after a penalty only Mike Tyson would be proud of, as well as another high stick to Chara's jugular, the B's earned an all-important 5 on 3 PP early in the second period. D'ya think they'd capitalize this time? Nah. 0-6 altogether on the man-advantage. More of the same. [sigh] On a bright note, they did manage to hold the unstoppable wrecking force that is the Canuck power play to 0-6 as well. However, Bruins fans shouldn't get used to it. If we really want to stop the Canucks from scoring those goals, we need to just not get 6 penalties a game. Because unlike the Bruins, Vancouver actually has their shit straight in that category. And it's only a matter of time until that 5-headed beast comes out.
What scares me is that this was really the first game of the playoff in which the Bruins didn't "eek" out a close win really late in the game. These are the games they have been winning. And these are the wins we need - especially on the road. Bruins need to wake up out of this blur by Saturday. If we go down 0-2, we might as well stop in Winnipeg on the way back and stay there until next season...
