The Boston Bruins are going to the Stanley Cup Finals! The Bruins beat the Lightning 1-0 in Game 7 tonight to advance to take on the Vancouver Canucks for the Cup.
Before I go into the game summary I must say I'm very proud of the Bruins and how they showed the team unity they have, especially when accepting the Prince of Wales trophy. The Bruins pulled something that I haven't seen done before in hockey when presented with the conference champion trophy. Zdeno Chara waived everyone in to take part in the picture for the Prince of Wales trophy, even the guys who were healthy scratches. Usually you see just the captain from the winning team stand there for pictures but we saw all the Bruins join in. You could say they pulled a "Patriots move," referring to when the New England Patriots decided to be introduced in the Super Bowl as a team instead of individually. I have a feeling we may see this move done more by other teams in the future as teams in the NFL later copied the Patriots. And no, no Bruin touched the Prince of Wales trophy. Watch it here.
First off, the refs let the players play tonight as there were no penalties in the game. There were some obvious interference non-calls that the refs let go. This let the game flow and the action was intense. No scoring happened until in the third period when David Krejci sent a perfect pass to Nathan Horton who tipped the puck into the net to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at the 12:27 mark. That's all the Bruins would need as they held off the Lightning as the Lightning had a hard time getting the puck deep as they pulled Dwayne Roloson. It was a great to see the players celebrate the huge win.
Tim Thomas made 24 saves getting his 2nd shutout of the playoffs and of the series. Thomas is now 12-6 with a 2.29 GAA and a .929 save percentage in the playoffs.
The Bruins led the game in shots 38-24 and in faceoff wins 35-26. Both teams had 23 hits.
Tim Thomas was definitely the MVP for the Bruins in this series, even though there were some goals he maybe should have had. Nathan Horton definitely comes in at a close second for Bruins MVP in this series.
Props to Steven Stamkos for coming back into the game after a Johnny Boychuk slap shot got redirected and hit Stamkos in the nose. His shield definitely helped him but his nose was still busted up.
Onto the next one
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is on Wednesday in Vancouver at 8pm ET on NBC. I will post the Stanley Cup Finals schedule in my next post. The Bruins are definitely the underdogs in their next series. The Canucks finished the season with the top record in the league and have been picked by many to win the Cup. This should be one heck of a series. I'm going to say Bruins win the Cup in 7 games.
The Bruins need 4 more wins to bring the Cup to Boston.
Personally, I'm so happy to see the Bruins make the Stanley Cup Finals. I have been following and watching the Bruins in the mid-1990s and to see them come from the bottom of the league to an average team to a team that couldn't get it done in the playoffs and to now in the finals, it's just amazing the progress they have made. Go Bruins!
BOSTON, MA - MAY 27: The Prince of Wales trophy is presented to the Boston Bruins by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly after they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 1 to 0 in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 27, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Before I go into the game summary I must say I'm very proud of the Bruins and how they showed the team unity they have, especially when accepting the Prince of Wales trophy. The Bruins pulled something that I haven't seen done before in hockey when presented with the conference champion trophy. Zdeno Chara waived everyone in to take part in the picture for the Prince of Wales trophy, even the guys who were healthy scratches. Usually you see just the captain from the winning team stand there for pictures but we saw all the Bruins join in. You could say they pulled a "Patriots move," referring to when the New England Patriots decided to be introduced in the Super Bowl as a team instead of individually. I have a feeling we may see this move done more by other teams in the future as teams in the NFL later copied the Patriots. And no, no Bruin touched the Prince of Wales trophy. Watch it here.
BOSTON, MA - MAY 27: The Prince of Wales trophy is presented to the Boston Bruins by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly after they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 1 to 0 in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 27, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
First off, the refs let the players play tonight as there were no penalties in the game. There were some obvious interference non-calls that the refs let go. This let the game flow and the action was intense. No scoring happened until in the third period when David Krejci sent a perfect pass to Nathan Horton who tipped the puck into the net to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at the 12:27 mark. That's all the Bruins would need as they held off the Lightning as the Lightning had a hard time getting the puck deep as they pulled Dwayne Roloson. It was a great to see the players celebrate the huge win.
Tim Thomas made 24 saves getting his 2nd shutout of the playoffs and of the series. Thomas is now 12-6 with a 2.29 GAA and a .929 save percentage in the playoffs.
The Bruins led the game in shots 38-24 and in faceoff wins 35-26. Both teams had 23 hits.
Tim Thomas was definitely the MVP for the Bruins in this series, even though there were some goals he maybe should have had. Nathan Horton definitely comes in at a close second for Bruins MVP in this series.
Props to Steven Stamkos for coming back into the game after a Johnny Boychuk slap shot got redirected and hit Stamkos in the nose. His shield definitely helped him but his nose was still busted up.
Onto the next one
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is on Wednesday in Vancouver at 8pm ET on NBC. I will post the Stanley Cup Finals schedule in my next post. The Bruins are definitely the underdogs in their next series. The Canucks finished the season with the top record in the league and have been picked by many to win the Cup. This should be one heck of a series. I'm going to say Bruins win the Cup in 7 games.
The Bruins need 4 more wins to bring the Cup to Boston.
Personally, I'm so happy to see the Bruins make the Stanley Cup Finals. I have been following and watching the Bruins in the mid-1990s and to see them come from the bottom of the league to an average team to a team that couldn't get it done in the playoffs and to now in the finals, it's just amazing the progress they have made. Go Bruins!
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