Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer
VANCOUVER -- The Boston Bruins capped pick-your-hero night with a Stanley Cup celebration.
Tim Thomas foiled the Vancouver Canucks one last time to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, and second-liners Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron provided the offense that brought the Stanley Cup back to Boston for the first time in 39 years.
Marchand finished his rookie season with a pair of goals and an assist in Game 7 Wednesday while Bergeron beat Roberto Luongo twice, including once shorthanded late in the second period. Dennis Seidenberg added a pair of assists to help the Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0 and send 18,860 disappointed fans into the downtown streets wondering if their team will ever win the Stanley Cup.
The home team had won every game in this Stanley Cup Final -- until Wednesday.
With 37 more saves in Game 7, Thomas now owns the NHL record for most saves in the postseason (798) and a Stanley Cup Final. He allowed only eight goals in the Final and became the first goalie in NHL history to win Game 7 with a shutout on the road. He is only the fourth goalie in history to post a shutout in Game 7.
Thomas also collected the puck at the buzzer before being mobbed by his teammates.
Mark Recchi, who likely played his final NHL game Wednesday, picked up his fourth assist and seventh point of the Final. He finished the playoffs with 14 points and his third Stanley Cup celebration.
Marchand didn't make any friends in Vancouver these last 2 1/2 weeks either. He scored a goal in all four of the Bruins' wins and had 7 points in the series to give him 19 in his first NHL postseason.
On the flip side, Luongo, who had been spectacular at home in the Final and dreadful on the road, was only average in Game 7 after giving up three goals on eight shots in just eight minutes and 35 seconds of work in Boston on Monday.
He was beaten by a one-timer, a wraparound and a sliding shorthanded goal. He failed to come up with a big, momentum-turning save.
The Canucks were the best team in the regular season for 82 games and after a near-monumental collapse in the first round against Chicago, they rolled through Nashville and San Jose to get to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1994.
But just as they did 17 years ago, they lost Game 7 to an Original Six team.
This time they did it at home, crushing the dreams of so many of their fans that have waited so long to celebrate.
Worse yet, Vancouver had the better start to Game 7, but the Bruins withstood the swarm, got a goal from Bergeron with 5:23 left in the first period and went into the dressing room with a 1-0 lead. It was 3-0 by the end of 40 minutes and Rogers Arena was silent.
Marchand scored his fourth goal of the series 12:13 into the second period and Bergeron added a shorthanded goal a little over five minutes later.
Vancouver held a 21-13 advantage in shots on goal after two periods, but it didn't matter. Thomas was far superior to Luongo.
Boston's fourth line helped the Bruins turn the momentum after their slow start. Led by Shawn Thornton, the B's fourth line had a dominating shift roughly seven minutes into the game. The Canucks still kept some momentum and Thomas had to close his legs to make a save on big-time save on Daniel Sedin's backhanded shot 7:27 into the period.
At that point injured Canucks forward Mason Raymond was shown waving to the crowd on the Jumbotron. He was wearing a body cast to protect his broken back, and the crowd went nuts.
It didn't give the Canucks the emotional lift they needed.
Just over seven minutes later, Bergeron scored his first of the night on a one-timer from the slot off a deft backhanded feed from Marchand to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Henrik Sedin beat Bergeron on a faceoff in the right circle near Luongo, but Marchand hustled in from his position on the left wing to gather the puck before a Canuck could touch it. He skated up the right wing boards, twirled back to avoid Sami Salo and feathered a crossing pass to the slot that avoided all the sticks in Bergeron's way so the Bruins' center could whack it off the left post and in.
The Canucks again had a strong start to the second period, holding the Bruins without a shot for the first seven minutes. Their best scoring chance came when Alexandre Burrows collected a turnover from Zdeno Chara with just over 11 minutes left in the second.
However, Burrows was actually stoned by a butterflying Chara. The towering defenseman came back to the slot after turning the puck over and covered for the way-out-of-position Thomas by blocking Burrows' shot from the right circle.
It didn't take long for the Bruins to use the momentum created from that lucky break. Not surprisingly, it was Marchand burning the Canucks again.
The play started with Luongo stopping the initial shot from Seidenberg, but he left a juicy rebound off near the right post. Marchand collected it, curled behind the net and used his backhand to wrap the puck around the left post and tuck it under Luongo's outstretched stick with 7:47 to play in the second period.
Luongo had to dive back to his right after coming too far out to compensate for the rebound.
Vancouver again had a strong push after Marchand's goal. But, Thomas again up to the task, stopping all six shots he faced before Chara gave the Canucks' the first power play of the game with 3:53 to play before the second intermission.
He was called for interference on Kesler and the Canucks, with momentum now, were hoping to finally take advantage.
Instead, they let the Bruins walk right into a 3-0 lead.
Bergeron caught a break when the puck came off the boards and popped up to him for a semi-breakaway. He was caught by Christian Ehrhoff, but Bergeron was still able to get a shot off before sliding into Luongo. Luongo made the initial save, but the puck got behind him as Bergeron was sliding into him.
The officials immediately ruled it a goal, but they still went to video review for confirmation to make sure Bergeron didn't inadvertently knock it in with his hands. He didn't and the Bruins had a three-goal lead heading into the third period.
With Thomas in net, there was no way they were giving it up.
Twenty minutes later, the Bruins were Stanley Cup champions.
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
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