Tim Thomas, what a game. Save after save, and he actually should have had a shutout last game too (if not for the cheapass goal by Hanson who had to slash the guy defending him on the back of the leg to get wide open to score). Thomas giving it back to Burrows for knocking his stick out showed how cantankerous he can be if you piss him off.
Burrows should have been given a penalty for that crap. It's pretty dirty to try and knock the goalie's stick out of his hand.
The crowd chanting Nathan Horton was classic. Vigneault and Sedin really fcked up by opening their mouths about the Rome hit.
Not only was it stupid because it fed the flame in the Bruins' locker room, but it was classless, especially on Vigneault's part. Whether or not you think that hit was a penalty, you don't run your mouth about it, you just say something like "the NHL made a ruling on that play and we'll have to live with it, but I hope that Nathan Horton recovers quickly. That was a scary moment out there" or something.
I think that, in general, Vancouver has really tried to draw a lot of penalties on questionable calls and it has backfired on them big time. The Bruins are playing with a chip on their shoulder right now not only because of the Horton hit but because of Burrows' antics, Sedin's ridiculous "I got hit in the face even though the stick came nowhere close to me," Ballard's idiotic flop behind the net last night, etc. When you're winning, moves like that can be infuriating, but when you genuinely believe you're going to win (and win big), those antics just get a team more fired up.
I would go with Schneider at this point because Lu has lost his confidence and he has a history of folding. Or they could live and die by who got them there.
Luongo gets the start. Any signs of trouble and he's gone. The bigger question is if Luongo stays in net but the Canucks lose. Do they switch for the elimination game?
Very exciting series, let's see if the Canucks can counterpunch back in the next game, which is the probably the most important. Hold onto to your seat!
Vancouver is going to have to do something on defense. Boston has been doing a great job getting to the net for a lot of their goals, but a bunch of them have simply been because the Canucks' defense has been horrible. Peverely's goal is a great example of that, so was Marchand's goal in Game 3.
Ballard was a complete disaster last night, highlighted by his flopping on the ground while the Bruins scored another goal. Honestly, you haven't played all series and you come in to flop? Get up and play some hockey.
To compound all that, the Bruins definitely have a big mental edge right now. Vancouver is playing scared and having a lot of difficulty matching Boston's physical play. Most surprising to me is how aggressive the Bruins have become on penalty killing. Last series they were a disaster against Tampa and now they're being aggressive and letting Marchand and Paille harass the crap out of them in their own zone.