Bruins even Final by beating Canucks 4-0

Corey Masisak  - NHL.com Staff Writer

BOSTON -- With the focal point of their previous two championships serving as honorary captain and watching from near the top of TD Garden, the Boston Bruins are now two victories from claiming the Stanley Cup for the first time in nearly four decades.

Bobby Orr got the night started with an inspirational wave of a flag, and Tim Thomas made 38 saves as the Bruins bested the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Game 4 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night.

What once was a best-of-seven battle is now a best-of-three as both teams have held serve on home ice. The series returns to Rogers Arena for Game 5 on Friday night (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS). The Canucks, like the Bruins, are 9-3 on their home ice.

"We have to bring our game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "This has to continue in Vancouver. It doesn't matter where you are, you've got to play the same way whether you're at home or on the road."

Thomas became the first Boston goaltender to record a shutout in the Stanley Cup Final since Gerry Cheevers did it against Montreal in Game 3 in 1978. He has allowed just five goals on 146 shots in the first four games of this series.

"He's had so many obstacles in front of him that he's overcome," Julien said of the 37-year-old, a ninth-round pick by Quebec who didn't become an NHL regular until after his 30th birthday. "It makes him a battler. It makes him the perfect goaltender for our organization because that's what we are -- we're a blue-collar team that goes out and works hard and earns every inch of the ice that you can get."

Despite being outscored 12-1 in losing Games 3 and 4 in Boston, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said his team's confidence level is still "real good.

"If someone had told me before the start of the year that we could play for the Stanley Cup, best two-out-of-three series with home-ice advantage in front of our fans, I'd have taken those odds. I would have taken that anytime to play for the big prize."

Rich Peverley had the lone goal of the opening period. David Krejci was able to poke the puck past Raffi Torres to Peverley who skated down the right wing and zipped a shot through goaltender Roberto Luongo's legs at 11:59 of the first. It was Peverley's third goal of the postseason and first since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Peverley was skating on the top line in place of Nathan Horton, who is expected to miss the rest of this series with a concussion after being hit by now-suspended Aaron Rome early in Game 3. Ryder and Peverley split time on the line next to Krejci and Milan Lucic.

After the game, Horton came into the locker room and presented "the jacket" -- a beat-up team jacket that's been passed among the Bruins in recent months to the key player in every victory - to Peverley.
"When I personally got to see him in the locker room, I was incredibly happy," Thomas said of seeing Horton, who had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher early in Game 3. "It gave me a big boost. He was there to pass the jacket on. The team would have been happy leaving it with Horty for the rest of the series, but he wanted to give it away and keep the tradition going. ... Watching him going down, we want to finish what we started for him."
Boston's domination of the second period in this series continued in Game 4. Ryder made it a two-goal advantage for the Bruins at 11:11. Ryder collected a pass from rookie Tyler Seguin and snapped a shot from the top of the left circle that ticked the stick of Vancouver defenseman Sami Salo and went past Luongo. Ryder now has 7 goals in this postseason.

Brad Marchand made it 3-0 a little more than two minutes later, prompting a timeout from Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. Keith Ballard, inserted into the lineup in place of Rome, fell down behind the Canucks net and was slow to get up. When he did, Patrice Bergeron poked the puck out from between his feet and to the edge of the crease, where Marchand was able to chip it past Luongo at 13:29 of the middle period.

It was Marchand's eighth goal of this postseason, tying him for the Boston record for rookies in the playoffs with Mike Krushelnyski (1983) and Bobby Joyce (1983). Boston has now outscored Vancouver 9-0 in the second period during this series.

Peverley added his second of the night and chased Luongo at 3:39 of the third period. Lucic sent the puck towards the crease from the right wall; it deflected off Luongo, then hit Peverley as he drove the net while engaged with Ryan Kesler and bounced into the net.

Luongo allowed 8 goals in Game 3, and Vigneault told the media afterwards that Luongo said he wanted to stay in the game after the Bruins made it 5-0 in the third period. The Vancouver coach didn't give him the option after Peverley made it a four-goal advantage.

Luongo "is going to be fine," Vigneault said. "He's one of the best goaltenders in the League. We've got a lot of trust in him, in his ability to play well."

Massachusetts native and Boston College alum Cory Schneider replaced Luongo and stopped all nine shots he faced in his first action since Game 6 of the opening round.

Vancouver's power play, which was tops among the final eight teams in this postseason, continued to struggle. The Canucks converted more than 28 percent of their opportunities with the man advantage in the first three rounds, but were 1-for-16 in the first three games of this series and were 0-for-6 on Wednesday night.

It was another bad night for the Sedin twins, who've combined for just one point (a Game 2 goal by Daniel) in four games.

"They spent a lot of time in the other team's end tonight, with no results to show at the end," Vigneault said. "But it's not from lack of effort, not from lack of playing the right way.

"They did a good job," he said of the Bruins, who outscored the Canucks 12-1 in Boston. "You've got to give that team credit. They're playing a smart game. They've been able to shut us down offensively in the last two games."