Bruins vs Canucks game 1 summary

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 01: Raffi Torres #13 of the Vancouver Canucks scores a goal late in the third period against Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins during game one of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Arena on June 1, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was a great game with both teams getting chances but the goalies closed the door. Just when it seemed the game was going to go to overtime, with 19 seconds left in the third period, the Canucks Raffi Torres scored to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. That would be the only goal the Canucks would need and take the series lead.

Ryan Kesler tipped the puck past Johnny Boychuk, who looked like he was going for a hit and missed Kesler. Kesler just barely stayed onside, passed it to Jannik Hansen who passed it to an oncoming Torres who had an open net with Thomas a little too far out of the net and couldn't get across to make the save.

The Bruins made a few mistakes throughout the game and Thomas bailed them out but eventually they got one past Thomas and that was the game.

Tim Thomas made 33 saves on 34 shots. Thomas is now 12-7 with a 2.23 GAA and a .931 save percentage in the playoffs.

The Bruins led the game in shots 36-34, led in faceoff wins 36-28 and led in hits 31-30.

Notes from the game
The Canucks looked like Montreal tonight, with their diving (H. Sedin) and overreacting (Ehrhoff throwing his head backwards on a high stick). But Alex Burrows shows he is still the classless player he always has been since he came into the league as he bit Patrice Bergeron's finger threw his glove at the end of the first period during a scrum. Bergeron showed the ref his finger but Burrows only got 4 minutes and Bergeron got 2 minutes. Look for Burrows to be suspended for at least Game 2. Yes biting has happened in the past as Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for two games for biting Andrew Peters. So a precedent has been set for biting in the past but will that be the case here or will the NHL once again do something completely different from the precedent? And it's clear that Burrows bit Bergeron's finger. Video of the incident is down below.

Bergeron on Burrows biting him:

"Oh yeah, he did," Bergeron. "He cut me a little bit on my finger, but I'm not going to complain about it. I'll let the league do their job, but he sure did [bite me]."

"They didn't see it, but we were speaking French and I [asked Burrows] why did he do that," Bergeron said. "That lineseman speaks French, and he said that [Burrows'] explanation was that he put my finger in his mouth and he had to do it."

"I don't mind the rough play and the little scrums at the end, as long as it's just pushing and shoving and all of that, but biting? I mean, come on."
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Burrows on if he bit Bergeron:

"I don't think so," said Burrows. "He had his fingers in my mouth, but I don't think I bit him. He put his hand up and put it in my face and his fingers in my mouth and that's what happened."
Source

Video of Alex Burrows biting Patrice Bergeron from NBC broadcast

Bruins coach Claude Julien on Burrows biting Bergeron:

"I haven't seen it, to be honest with you," Julien said. "I haven't had time to look at that stuff right now. I'm going by what Patrice told me. Obviously there was something that happened. I guess I'll save my comments for after I see it. But if that's the case, it's a classless move, not something players should be doing at this level anyway."
Source

Canucks Dan Hamhuis left the game injured in the second period after he hip checked Milan Lucic, lifting Lucic up and over his back and down onto the ice. David Krejci came in and got a cross-checking penalty but it looked like a soft call. Hamhuis was slow skating off the ice, as it looked like a possible leg injury but I couldn't tell.

Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were both 12-9 in the faceoff circle.

Nathan Horton and David Krejci both had 5 shots apiece to lead the Bruins.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins with 8 hits.

Zdeno Chara led the Bruins in ice time with 28:09. He was also 1-0 in the faceoff circle. Yes you read that right.

There were lots of penalty calls which affected the flow of the game. Both teams went 0 for 5 on the power-play.

Onto the next one
The Canucks now lead the series 1-0. Game 2 is on Saturday at 8pm ET in Vancouver on NBC. The Bruins still need 4 more wins to bring the Cup to Boston.