Chase for the Cup: 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs Roundup

The Stanley Cup Final will be going the distance as the Boston Bruins forced a Game Seven yesterday. It was the typical game in Boston for this series, as the Bruins simply dominated, while Roberto Luongo was caught in the cross-fire.

The Night that Was:

Boston wasted little time in giving their fans hope for a Game Seven against the Vancouver Canucks. Although Vancouver had an opportunity to get on the board first when a puck banked off the end boards and found Henrik Sedin at the side of the net, but slid between his legs as Tim Thomas scrambled to get across to cover the empty cage, they wouldn’t get many more chances after that. Five and a half minutes in, Brad Marchand ripped his ninth over top of a dropping Luongo to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Just 30 seconds late, Milan Luicic’s fifth of the playoffs made it 2-0, and two-and-a-half minutes after that, Andrew Ference’s fourth found the back of the net on the power play. Down 3-0 early, Vancouver swapped Roberto Luongo, who is hoping he never finds himself in the Eastern Conference again based on how it’s gone against Boston in the Finals, for Cory Schneider. It didn’t help as a minute later Michael Ryder tipped home a Tomas Kaberle point shot to make it 4-0 before the game was ten minutes old. Those four goals all happened within a stretch of 4:14 in the first, making it the fastest four goals by one team in Stanley Cup Finals history.

That would be all the Bruins would need, as despite a power play goal from Henrik Sedin early in the third and a late goal from Max Lapierre, they would hold on for a 5-2 victory (David Krejci scored the other goal on a power play in the third). Thomas was his usual playoff self, making 36 of 38 saves (Those 36 saves tied him for the single playoff-season record that he’ll likely break in Game Seven), while the nasty, physical tones that the series had featured so often late in the third were seen again. Four ten-minute misconducts were handed out with a minute and a half to go, accounting for a good portion of the 54 minutes of penalties in the third period. The Sedins did show signs of life as Daniel assisted on both Vancouver goals, but two-point nights from Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder and a three-assist effort from Mark Recchi were the highlights for Boston as they tied the Stanley Cup Finals at three games apiece and forced Game Seven in Vancouver.

The Injury Bug:

-In a scary incident last night, Mason Raymond got turned around early in the first period and went back-first into the boards. He was taken from the arena on a stretcher. The Canucks were quiet on his condition at the time of the injury but with everything that was released, Raymond seems to be a long shot for Game Seven, especially with the rumour that Raymond’s injury is very serious.

UPDATE: It’s being reported by a source close to the Raymond family that it is a fractured vertebrae. This has yet to be confirmed or denied however.

-Dan Hamhuis’ absence from the Stanley Cup Finals continued as he missed Game Six.

-Andrew Alberts and Alex Edler both left the game last night with injuries, but those aren’t expected to carry over and both are expected to be playing in Game Seven.

What’s on Tonight?

Game Seven of the Stanley Cup goes in Vancouver as the series wraps up on Wednesday at 8:00pm Eastern.

News and Rumours Around the League:

-The Ottawa Senators are expected to make Paul MacLean their next Head Coach. MacLean, who will become the ninth coach in the franchise’s history, has spent the last six seasons working with Mike Babcoch in Detroit as his assistant and has a Stanley Cup to his credit.

-Winnipeg and Kevin Cheveldayoff will begin interviewing candidates to be the Head Coach of the team soon. Craig Ramsay, the Head Coach when the team resided in Atlanta, has not been relieved of his duties yet, and is expected to interview for the position.

-In AHL Coaching news, Jim Playfair is now the former Head Coach of the Abbotsford Heat as he has taken an Associate Coach position with the Phoenix Coyotes. Texas Stars Head Coach Glen Gulutzan appears to be graduating to the NHL as well as the new Head Coach of the Dallas Stars.

-Kevin Porter has re-signed with the St. Louis Blues for one-year on a two-way deal. Porter had seven points in 45 games in the NHL with St. Louis last year.

Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:

Mark Recchi set up three of Boston’s five goals last night, giving him two multi-point games in the Finals. Recchi assisted on the first goal of the night, and the power play goal that ended up being the game-winner. He also assisted on the power play goal that made it 5-1 in the third.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.