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For Vancouver, home ice advantage meant everthing. Though doing so narrowly, they took each game on Rogers Center ice prior to Game 7. Contrarily, each game held at TD Garden went Boston's way in convincing fashion. But all bets are off when its left to the do or die Game 7 - and the road team finally snagged a victory when it mattered most.
Courtesy of a two-goal nights from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, as well as another perfect performance from 37-year old Tim Thomas in between the pipes, the Bruins secured a 4-0 win and snagged the Stanley Cup for the first time since defeating the New York Rangers in 1972.
Bergeron got the scoring going late in the first period when he netted a pass from Brad Marchand that slid just to the right of Roberto Luongo. Marchand added his first goal 7:47 into the second period with a wraparound on an out-of-position Luongo. Bergeron posted his second goal of the game a bit over five minutes later with a drive into the crease that enabled him to slide the puck past Luongo. And finally Marchand popped in his second to put the nail in the coffin on the Canucks with an empty netter with 2:44 left in the game.
A four-goal night put the Vancouver fans in silent mode, but it was undoubtedly another splendid showing in net from Thomas that enabled Boston to come out on top. The Conn Smythe Award recipient for Finals MVP posted his second shutout of the series and fourth overall of this year's playoffs on a 37-save effort - a number matching the age of the Flint, Michigan native likely set to add another Vezina Trophy to his accolades of the 2010-11 season.
Vancouver's downfall was being unable to consistently come up strong against the Bruins. Key players such as Ryan Kesler, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and Luongo were all unable to follow through on the key contributions they offered throughout both the regular and postseason prior to the Finals. They were completely flat on the road, surrendering losses of 8-1 (Game 3), 4-0 (Game 4) and 5-2 (Game 6) in Boston. It also didn't help that Vancouver provided plenty of motivation to the Bruins players when Nathan Horton, who had some clutch performances through these playoffs, was knocked out of the series with a concussion courtesy of a late, blindside hit from defenseman Aaron Rome. Rome was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the series.
Canada's drought of playoff success now reaches 18 years, with the Montreal Canadiens being the last squad from up north to take Lord Stanley on the shoulders of goaltender Patrick Roy.
Of note, this was Mark Recchi's third Stanley Cup Championship during his 22 years in the NHL. He previously hoisted the trophy in 1991 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 43-year old forward illuded in post-game interviews that retirement is likely on the horizon.
