Sports of Boston » Cory Schneider

Canucks Spoil Hockey Day in New England, Bruins Fall to Canucks 4-3

Bobby Doherty — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:58:00 +0000

The highly anticipated Stanley Cup rematch was everything we thought it would be as (arguably) the two best teams in the NHL faced off for the only time this season. The Canucks went to work on the power play today scoring all four goals on the man advantage and Boston lost a close one 4-3.

Two game misconducts really came back to hurt the Bruins. Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand both were kicked out of todays game giving the Canucks chances to put the game away.

Bruins Powerless Play Didn’t Help Today

The Bruins played well while even strength play was going on but failed on the power play going 0-7. Brad Marchand made his return to the Bruins line up today and his return was felt by the Canucks early. Tyler Seguin set up Marchand on a cross ice pass after Marchand fought for position and went in on goal. The goal came at 14:57 of the first and tied the game at 1-1. Seguin looked like one of the best Bruins in the first period. His speed was really creating problems for the Canucks leading to shots and puck possession.

Rich Peverly beat Cory Schneider on a wrist shot at 7:12 of the second. The Canucks looked like they were expecting the previous dump in to be called icing. Boston set up camp in the Vancouver zone for a few shifts and had chances that nearly produced.

David Krejci scored a four-on-four goal at 1:51 of the first cutting the Canuck lead in half. The Bruins seemed to play better even strength.

Tyler Seguin looked to be one of the best Bruin skaters all game and it really showed in the third period. Seguin has great vision and nearly set up a few Boston goals in the third. Seguin seems to play better in these nasty games.

Even Thomas Can’t Stop 11 Power Plays

Thomas played well but couldn’t stop the game’s best power play. Vancouver went 4-11 on the power play; four goals on the man advantage is the most Boston has given up all season.

The Canucks had the benefit of a power play goal in a penalty-filled first period. Ryan Kesler put one past Tim Thomas at 5:41 on a great bounce of a blocked shot. The Bruins have been avoiding those kind of bad bounces for the most part over this streak of great hockey. Thomas played well making nine saves on ten shots in the first.

The Canucks added another power play goal in the second from Alex Burrows at 15:21. The Canucks own the best power play in the NHL and the Bruins gave them too many chances. Henrick Sedin added another power play goal at 19:47 of the second giving the Canucks a 3-2 lead after two periods.

The Canucks started the third still with more than half of a five minute major penalty power play advantage. Cody Hodgson beat Thomas with a slap shot at 1:09 of the third.

Tim Thomas made the save of the game on Mason Raymond with under five minutes left in the game down a goal. Raymond had a clear break but Thomas gave him nothing to shoot at.

Bad Blood

This regular season game had the same feel as last seasons cup final with scrums, heavy hitting , and even some Canuck players dropped the gloves with the Bruins. Milan Lucic receieved a game misconduct five minutes into then game when Shawn Thornton was jumped in front of the Canuck bench. Nathan Horton fought Dale Weise and Greg Campbell fought Maxim Lapierre in the first period. Thornton tried to go with Weise in the second but Weise backed away sending both playes to the box for two minutes.

Blown Tires: 3 1st-Period Goals Chase Luongo from Game 6 as Bruins Force Game 7

Matt Goisman — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 05:31:22 +0000

Lord Stanley’s Cup came to Boston, and all the Vancouver Canucks needed to do to win it Monday night at the Garden was play the same punishing offense and fantastic goal-tending that had won them Game 5 last Friday.

Only problem: no one told Roberto Luongo.

Luongo gave up three easy goals within the first nine minutes of the game, and the Bruins capitalized on four first-period goals to beat the Canucks 5-2. The two teams will vie for the Stanley Cup in Game 7 Wednesday in Vancouver, where the Canucks are 3-0 during these Finals.

Bruins Score Fastest Four Goals in Stanley Cups Finals History

The Bruins scored their first goal 5:31 into the first period. Mark Recchi took control of the puck near the boards along the center line, then waited for Brad Marchand to sneak in behind the Vancouver defense before passing him. Marchand skated to the right of the goal, then fired off a tight-angle elevating shot above Luongo’s glove for the 1-0 lead.

The Bruins made it 2-0 just 35 seconds later. A bad Canucks shift gave the Bruins a 3-on-2, and Rich Peverley brought it up between the circles before dumping it off to Milan Lucic, who shot the puck between Luongo’s pads.

Peverley earned the Bruins a power play at 7:55 after defenseman Alexander Edler slammed him into the boards. Peverley won the ensuing faceoff, which led to a blocked shot by Luongo, then won that ensuing faceoff. Recchi and Michael Ryder took control of the puck before finding Andrew Ference at the blue line. Ference fired off a slap-shot that Recchi screened in front of the net, lifting up his right leg at the last possible second as the puck flew by and into the goal.

Three relatively soft goals in less than nine minutes chased Luongo from the game, but former BC captain and current Canuck backup Cory Schneider could do little at first to quell the Bruins attack. Just over a minute after the Bruins went up 3-0, Ryder redirected a blue-line shot from Tomas Kaberle to make it 4-0.

Boston’s four goals in four minutes and 14 seconds were the fastest four goals scored by one team in Stanley Cup finals history.

Thomas Survives Third-Period Vancouver Scramble

The second period of Monday’s game was little more than wrestling match, with both teams giving up on offense in favor of hitting each other as hard and as often as possible. The Canucks played as though they didn’t want to score, just beat up the Bruins to pay them back for humiliating their goalie. The Bruins looked content to hash out any remaining grievances with the Canucks while eating up clock time.

After taking 19 shots in the first period, Boston got off just 10 in the second. The Canucks got off eight.

The only important thing to happen in the second was an elbowing penalty against Patrice Bergeron with 52 seconds left. Boston held the Canucks scoreless through the end of the period, but Vancouver went on the attack with the man-advantage to start the third. Center Henrik Sedin brought the puck into the Boston zone, then skated from the left circle to the right. Ryan Kesler crossed in front of Sedin and through the crease, drawing Tim Thomas (36 saves) away from the puck and opening the net for Sedin’s shot.

The Canucks continued their offensive assault after Sedin’s score, forcing Thomas to block four shots in two minutes. Right winger Jannik Hansen then fired off a shot on a wide-open net that at first was called a goal, but video replay quickly showed had bounced cleanly off the left goal post.

The Canucks’ attack died off after that, and the Bruins regained the four-goal lead on a 5-on-3 with just under seven minutes elapsed. After Schneider (30 saves) made a diving block of a Recchi shot, Kaberle collected the rebound and dumped it back to Recchi to the right of the goal. Recchi fired a bullet pass through the crease to David Krejci for the one-timer. It was Recchi’s third assist of the game, and Kaberle’s second.

The Canucks scored once more with less than 2:30 left in the game on a give-and-go from left winger Daniel Sedin to right winger Maxim Lapierre to make it 5-2 Boston. But the Bruins killed off a 57-second 5-on-3 (plus a sixth skater with an empty net) to secure the win. Fans at the TD Garden alternated the entire game between sing-song mocking Luongo, thanking Thomas and screaming for the Stanley Cup.

Thomas and the Bruins’ attack gave Boston a chance to do just that and bring home the Cup Wednesday night at the Rogers Arena.

Ice Breakers: Bruins-Canucks, Saturday 2/6

Erikk — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:21:36 +0000

After Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Montréal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins (23-22-10, 13-12-5 at home) have now lost nine straight games as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks (34-20-2, 11-13-1 on the road), Canada’s most successful team this season, to the TD Garden at 1 p.m. for a matinee matchup.

Today’s game will be the first and only tilt between the two teams this season. As if fans need to be reminded, Boston hasn’t won a home game since their 2-1-overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day and is yet to win a game at the TD Garden this year. Their offensive futility, highlighted by scoring only three goals on 89 shots in their last two games, has stretched the team’s current losing streak to its longest in franchise history since an 11-game streak of losses between December 3, 1924 and January 5, 1925.

The Canucks, whose popularity amongst television viewers aged 18-34 has grown exponentially since the fall of 2005, are currently in the midst of a 14-game road trip as their home rink prepares to welcome the Winter Olympics this coming Friday. After winning seven straight games to vault themselves into third place in the Western Conference, they dropped their last two games: a 3-2 loss to Montréal and a 3-1 decision to the red-hot Ottawa Senators.

Taking a closer look at the visiting Vancouverites:

The Canucks offense, whose 181 goals qualify for fourth-best in the league, is led by Henrik Sedin (25-53-78), who trails only Alex Ovechkin by four points in the race for the Art Ross Trophy and has more than double the points of Boston’s leading scorer, Patrice Bergeron (12-21-33). Henrik Sedin is flanked by identical twin brother Daniel Sedin, who is second on the team with 52 points, and Alex Burrows, whose 49 points are good enough for third. Also of note are the trio’s plus/minus ratings: +25, +24, and +27, respectively.
Despite these impressive numbers, the Canucks’ first line has no goals and only one assist in their last two games. Furthermore, the Canucks haven’t scored an even-strength goal since their 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 30.
On defense, the Canucks are also one of the league’s best, having allowed only 138 goals, behind only the Chicago Blackhawks (134) and the New Jersey Devils (128).
In net will be Team Canada’s very own Robert “Bobby Lou” Luongo (29-15-2), who sits in tenth place in the league in both goals against average (2.33) and save percentage (91.9). Luongo was given the night off on Thursday, as backup and familiar face Andrew Raycroft (5-4-0) took the loss.
Opposing Luongo will be Tuukka Rask, who will enjoy starting in consecutive games for the first time since early December despite Tim Thomas’s success against the Canucks. In his previous two games against Vancouver, Thomas stopped all 70 shots the Canucks peppered him with in the teams’ two previous meetings (a 1-0 win in 2008 and a 2-0 win in 2006). The Canucks haven’t scored on the Bruins since they piled on five on December 4, 2005.
Besides former Boston netminder Raycroft, Bruins fans will have trouble recognizing any other Canucks since former Boston College standout Cory Schneider was sent down to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, last November.

For those looking for something to smile about, enjoy the fact that the Orland Kurtenblog, Canada’s prognosticating duo of Jason Brough and Mike Halford that prides itself on being right 51% of the time, predicted a Bruins victory today. If that isn’t reassuring enough, enjoy Canucks forward Ryan Kesler’s recent “Dancing With the Stars” tryout, found on the same page.