If the Canucks weren't doubting themselves after their 8-1 loss on monday night, they will be now. Last night the Bruins put together their best game of the postseason and just ran those fuckers over.
The team is obviously rallying around their fallen teammate, Nathan Horton, and using his loss to get motivated. The hometown crowd is also giving these guys an extra jump in their step and they've been feeding off of the flat out amazing noise emanating from the faithful.
Couple things:
-What an amazing sight to see the one and only Bobby Orr waving Horton's flag prior to the opening faceoff. As an organization, the Bruins do alot of things right, and this just further exemplifies that thought. I'm sure it got the boys riled up.
-Last night I was speaking to someone and stated that Chiarelli is looking pretty smucking fart right now for picking up Kelly and Peverley. Though a bit underwhelming after their trades, these guys have stepped up and played like stars during the playoffs. Peverley is a sneaky fucking skater that is consistently surprising opposing dmen with his hustle and skill. Last night's two goals is my case in point. His first was just beautiful, beating Luongo cleanly and his second was a direct result of his hustle and constant push to get to the net. Kelly has been dependable as hell, though I'm still lobbying for him to put the cage from the first round back on.
-Perhaps wisely, the Canucks decided not to make things too chippy early on in the game. Team toughness is something the Bruins had all frickin year long, and the Canucks learned they just can't play that game with them.
-Speaking of toughness, the insertion of Thornton into the lineup has brought further motivation to the team. He's obviously a vocal guy on the bench and when he's there, the boys play with more intensity. As a Bruin, Thornton has never been the prototypical "tough guy" (i.e. Brashear, Laraque, etc.). Yes, he can trade punches with the best of him, but unlike the other guys, he can actually score some goals and draw calls. More importantly, he is not a liability out there. It was great to see Thornton/Campbell/Paille together, because anyone that watched Bruins hockey this year knew that they were one of the most consistent lines. I liked that Claude put them out there pretty much after every Bruins goal, as if to show the other guys that they still needed to hustle and muck it out even though the score was climbing.
-There are some that were saying what Marchand did to Tampon #1 or #2 was cheap. I would love to see how they would react if you're much smaller than the guy coming in at full speed trying to take your head off. And the fact that Rome almost killed Horton last game makes me take a deep breath and want to yell FUCK. YOU. Marchand was protecting himself. It's not his fault that Tampon #1 or #2 can't challenge a guy properly.
-The secret is finally out on Adam McQuaid. This kid is just a pillar of nasty and no one wants to go with him. He's turned into such a reliable dman back there and the Bruins are lucky to have him. I'm thinking that Erhoff must have tinkled in his shorts a little bit when he saw that it was McQuaid trying to get at him. The fact that McQuaid's haircut makes him look like an extra from Mad Max is even better. He's making Corky Kaberle look like an even larger vagina and has me pining for a D-pairing of McQuaid and Mark "Caveman" Stuart.
-And in what is a recurring theme: Timmy. Fucking. Thomas. Jesus Christ. In four games, the Canucks have scored 5 goals. That's it. Five goals. The Bruins were supposed to be blown away with the offensive output of the Canucks. That just hasn't happened. Timmy played his best game yet last night, stopping every puck they threw at him. Players are starting to figure out that he's not a bump on a log like Luongo and he will...how should I put this..."interact" with you if you get in his crease, knock his stick out of his hands, etc. Burrows found out the hard way last night that Timmy is an emotional guy and won't take any shit. I mean this is the guy that once faced down A FUCKING BEAR THAT WAS TRYING TO CLIMB THE TREE HE WAS IN. You think pressure or Burrows can get in Timmy's head? Please.
The boys have battled back from 2-0. They've outscored the Canucks 14 to 5 in the series. They're used to being doubted, they're used to having to play catch-up in the series. When their backs are to the wall, this year's version of the Bruins play their best hockey. All tied up, they will head back to Vancouver for a friday night showdown. Seriously, does it get much better than this?
G0 B's.
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