Chase for the Cup: 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs Roundup

Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Fitting that the entire season came down to one game, as East and West met to determine who would go into 2011/12 as the reigning champion.

The Night that Was:

With the home team having won every single game in the series in the six previous contests, the Vancouver Canucks were confident in hosting the Boston Bruins in the final game of the 2010/11 NHL season. Along with undefeated home teams though, the team that scored first in those games always went on to win as well, so as the puck dropped on Game Seven it was a race to who could score first.

Roberto Luongo made some big saves early in the game to quell the critics that had come back out of the woodwork after another smearing in Boston during Game Six, but Tim Thomas was equal to the task. As the two sides scratched and clawed for that first goal, Boston would come out on top in the hunt late in the first, as Brad Marchand threw the puck towards the slot where it found Patrice Bergeron, who slid his fifth past a stunned Luongo. As things transitioned into the second, the score remained at 1-0, but Boston maintained their advantage in play, preventing Vancouver from gaining any ground or second chances in the attacking zone while Tim Thomas stood tall. At the other end, Luongo was fine until he couldn’t freeze an initial shot from Dennis Seidenberg, while Marchand corralled the rebound at the side of the net, and slammed home a wraparound for a 2-0 lead. Five minutes later, with Vancouver on the first power play of the game looking to cut the lead in half, the friendly bounces that had gone in Vancouver’s favour worked against them.

As the Canucks worked the puck back to the point, it hit a stanchion and bounced into the centre of the ice. Bergeron pounced on the loose puck and started up ice on a shorthanded breakaway. As he was hacked and slashed and brought down, the puck rolled in on Luongo who made the save, but a tumbling Bergeron knocked Luongo, and the puck, into the net for a 3-0 Boston lead. That was all Boston needed, as it seemed to snatch any hope of winning from the Canucks. Despite a game-high 16 shots in the third, Vancouver barely managed any actual pressure on Tim Thomas, and Marchand would add an empty-netter as the Bruins earned a 4-0 win and their sixth Stanley Cup championship. Marchand finished the evening with three points, while Seidenberg added two assists and Tim Thomas made 37 saves for his fourth shutout of the playoffs. Along with that, Thomas earned the Conn Smythe trophy for his efforts, as Boston became the fifth Original Six team to win the Stanley Cup in the last 20 seasons.

Stats You Can Chew On:

-The Boston Bruins became the first team to ever win three Game Sevens in one playoff season last night. That was also their first-ever Game Seven in the Stanley Cup Finals, making them 1/1 in do-or-dies for the Cup.

-Boston became the fourth road team to ever win a Game Seven in the Stanley Cup Finals.

-This was the Bruins first title since 1972, a span of 39 seasons.

-Mark Recchi became the eighth player to win a cup in three different decades, and joins Claude Lemieux and Joe Nieuwendyk as players to win three cups with three different teams.

-Zdeno Chara joins Nicklas Lidstrom as the second-ever European-born player to Captain a team to a Stanley Cup title.

-Boston’s power play had clicked for just five goals in the first three rounds of the playoffs. They scored five power play goals in the Finals.

-The eight goals scored by the Vancouver Canucks is the fewest ever in a series that went seven games.

-Tim Thomas became the 15^th goaltender, the second American-born player, and the oldest player to ever win the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. He is also the second Bruin (Bobby Orr won it twice) and established two records: Total saves in a single playoff season (798) and saves in a Stanley Cup Final (238).

-With a Vezina Trophy next week, Thomas could become the first goalie since Ron Hextall in 1987 (Philadelphia) to win the Conn Smythe and Vezina trophies in the same year. He could also join Bernie Parent (twice-73/74 and 74/75) and Billy Smith (1983) as goalies to win both of those awards along with a Stanley Cup.

-Tyler Seguin may very well be the first-ever second-overall pick to win a Stanley Cup in his rookie season. The closest would be Montreal defenseman Marc Tardif, who won a Stanley Cup in his second season with the Habs.

New and Rumours from Around the League:

-While nothing is concrete, Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg _____ might come to a decision on a Head Coach by some point next week. While it’s expected they will also finalize a name for the franchise, they are expected to be using a generic NHL jersey and hat at the NHL draft.

-The St. Louis Blues came to an agreement with Vladimir Sobotka on a three-year contract yesterday that will pay him $3.9-million.

-The Chicago Blackhawks extended Scotty Bowman’s contract and promoted Marc Bergevin. Bowman will retain his title as Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations, while Bergevin will become the Assistant GM to Bowman’s son Stan.

-In Columbus, the Blue Jackets are rumored to be interested in Jeff Carter of Philadelphia despite rampant denials from Carter’s camp. Mike Commodore might be a buyout candidate, while the team and unrestricted free agent Jan Hejda are discussing a new contract.

Your Playoff Performer of the Night:

Brad Marchand’s turnaround between this season and last was all anyone could really talk about and with good reason. He joined an elite selection of rookies to ever score 10 goals in the NHL playoffs, and had three points in what could turn out to be the biggest game of his career, and he’s just 23. He had two goals, one assist and a plus-three rating in 18 minutes of ice time.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.