Ruin the Bruins!! Stanley Cup Re-Match!

An early Saturday morning game.  Whoever thought this schedule would work for Vancouver should be shot.  As hard as it was getting up bright and early to watch my beloved Vancouver Canucks take on the big bad Bruins, it had to be done.  Was so nervous for them the whole night that I didn't fall asleep til 7am. Woke up an hour later to the alarm set for 8am, tea was made and my signed Bieksa shirt and jersey went on....although I did keep my comfy pyjama bottoms on.  I went online to check Facebook and twitter so I could catch up on all the excitement this game was about to bring.  My friends and I were all set to watch our Nucks beat the Bruins!! Who knew that this is what it is like to watch the Bruins and Canucks with Reffing!! And half decent at that too!!

Right off the bat, you could feel the electricity in the building even thru the TV screen. They obviously love having the Canucks in their building.  The crowd booed Kesler and Schnieder when they skated onto the ice.  Then as if confused as to who was actually in net, the entire arena starting chanting, "Luongoooooooooo" several times.  The camera then panned over to Lu who was sitting on the bench with his ball-cap on, smiling in response. Obviously loving every minute of it.  The funny thing is once they figured out he wasn't in net, as Schniedz was denying all shots at the net, they began to chant "We Want Luongo!".  Unreal.

All week long the Canucks have been asked by reporters about the re-match today and in their answers have all maintained that this game was ONLY about going into their building and getting 2 points.  Granted the two points would be great to have over Boston.  But a huge win would be even better.  If anyone thought this game would be a tame one and there would be no bad blood between them, they were wrong.  About 4 mins into play, Burrows gets sticked by Shawn Thornton going to their benches, to which Burrows responded by getting his stick high on Thornton and then Thornton hurtling himself at Burrows with an innocent Sedin caught in the crossfire.  This then attracts the entire Canucks team already on the ice to come over and pounce on Thornton which then attracts all of the Bruins who were on the ice to come over and jump all over them.  Only one pair broke off to fight.  Dale Weise and Nathan Horton.  They fought for a minute or so and then got broken up by the Refs. One of the things I love about this all out line brawl was that the Refs thought Milan Lucic left his bench to come over and put my Bieksa in a headlock and therefore, getting an automatic game misconduct and an extra two for punching Burrows after it had all calmed down again.  Bye bye, Lucic! If there ever was a Neanderthal.....Horton also picked up an extra 2 mins for punching Burrows after the play.

Canucks and Bruins go to war.  The penalty box quickly became standing room only.

So the Canucks ended up with a 5-3 PowerPlay .  The first unit comes out and starts swinging around the puck from one Canuck player to another until Kesler gets a fortuitous bounce off Kelly's leg and was able to pop it in the net on a one-timer.  Canucks went up 1-0.  Unfortunatley, the one player I didn't to score on us, went and did exactly that shortly after the Canuck goal on a breakdown from our defence. As the game went on, Cody would shoot and Burrows would tip it in to get credit on the 2nd goal of the game.  Making the score 2-2.

This is where the Canucks make the Bruins pay for playing stupid.  Brad "the rat" Marchand upends Salo along the end board with a low-bridge hit resulting in Sami Salo falling over backwards and on his shoulder onto the ice.  Salo headed straight to the dressing room and didn't come back  Marchand receives a 5 mins major and a game misconduct.  But by doing this, he just hurt his own team by putting the Canucks on the Power Play. If you haven't seen what he looks like, here he is.

Here is the video evidence of the rat's intent to injure move.  DISGUSTING, CLASSLESS and DIRTIEST player in the game.  Throw the book at him Shanny!!!   Boston fans are just as classless.  Who throws a tin of chewing tobacco onto the ice???? Really.....grow up people!  Coach Claude Julien said afterwards about this hit   "Marchand was just protecting himself." ok...ummmmm....from what????  Our fragile Fin???  Poor Sammy, he was having such an awesome injury free year so far and then this....taken out by a cheap shot!!!

So here are a couple goal highlights from the rat's power play.  This is Edler with a shot-pass to Henrik who re-directs it to the back of the net. Thomas got fooled on that one. This makes it 3-2 Canucks.

On the Power Play again, the second unit comes out after the first wasn't able to get anything going.  Cody receives a pass from Hamhuis and skates into the offensive zone, winds up and rips it into the back of the net.  Thomas never saw it but everyone in the arena sure heard it!! PING!  Love this kid!!!  Score is now 4-2!

The Bruins would then settle down a bit and add one more to their pot and the game ended in a 4-3 victory for the Canucks.  Not only did they manage to go back into a building where they were winless during the Stanley Cup Finals, but they came back and showed everyone that they are a talented, skilled and TOUGH team to beat and they can play with the Bruins and win against them anytime, any day.  The hostile environment evident by the crowd was humbled a bit as they watched their "Broons" fall and be DEFEATED by the Canucks.  The game displayed by the Canucks made every one of us in Canuck Nation proud to bleed blue and green.   Good on ya boyz!

Cory Schneider whose a hometown Boston boy, got the start to this game.  Its the first time he got to play in front of his family and friends.  So glad he got the win today!! Luv you Schneidz!!  

The league ruled after the game that Lucic would not get suspended as it was deemed he did not come off the bench to involve himself in the brawl and his mis-conduct will be rescinded.  However, the rat should await a call from Shanahan for his cheap shot on Salo.  Do the right thing Shanny and throw the book at him.  If Romer gets 4 games for giving a clean hit a tad bit to late, then what does a cheap shot by a repeat offender with intent to injure get?

Talking about injuries....Andrew Ebbett who had just returned to our lineup after suffering a broken foot from a blocked shot in LA back in November, suffered another set-back today as his collision with Seidenberg resulted in a broken collar bone.  Ebbett will be operated on in a hospital in Boston within 24 hrs and will be out indefinatley.  Sami Salo has an upper body injury.  I'm thinking shoulder injury as he had landed on it.  They will re-evaluate him tomorrow.  Meanwhile, the Canucks left Boston after the game fairly quickly and shuttled it back to the airport to catch their charter and fly off to their next destination.  Florida to play the Panthers.  As half our team is from there, it should be a nice break for all of them.  The weather is a beautiful warm 26 degrees Celsius.  They'll have tomorrow to recover from any injuries suffered today and then play on Monday. Here is a picture of them landing.  Good luck boys!

So since I had only one hour or sleep before I had to wake up for the game, I decided I would catch up on some sleep and take a nap.  Love the sound of rain falling....and my warm blanket.  The Canucks win made my slumber all the more peaceful!