BOSTON – Thousands of Vancouver Canucks supporters have descended on the city of Boston for Game Four tonight. Many are without tickets, but want to be near their team as the battle for Game Four takes place at the TD Garden tonight. The Green Men are all decked out and running around downtown Boston. The Western Conference Champions are in good company on the road and they will need it to get a victory.
The Canucks are hoping the whale “C” on their team’s sweaters doesn’t experience a shift in meaning as in “choke”. After they delivered two solid victories in the Pacific Northwest allowing them to jump to a 2-0 series lead, the Canucks were expected to put up a much better fight Monday night. Now Boston has the upper hand going into their second home game in the series. Still, Monday night’s game may just be an anomaly and the Canucks are expected to get back to their winning ways. They will need to change a few things in order to get there.
Vancouver will have to stifle the Bruins attack early in hopes of taking a 3-1 series lead. They will also have to withstand Boston’s physical assault that has gotten them this far in the playoffs. There is a sense the Canucks will focus on getting back to the disciplined style of play that has brought them success all year long. Look for coordinated team speed with a quick transition game out of their own zone. The tighter officiating environment will also help the Canucks succeed tonight.
Look for Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo to lead the effort by keeping the Bruins off the scoreboard early while waiting for the Vancouver attack to get the first goal. Luongo will make the key saves early and his teammates will gain confidence in him as they game goes on. Once the Canucks net the first goal, watch Luongo tighten up while the rest of the Canucks peck at the Bruins goal the remainder of the game little by little.
At the other end of the ice, the unorthodox style Boston goaltender Tim Thomas uses to defend his goal has been a topic of conversation all series long. Thomas has been making contact with players outside his crease generating concern from the Vancouver side of the ice. It has left opposing players wondering how they should play around a goalie who roams well outside the crease.
When asked about getting clarification from the League on how Thomas’ contact with opposing players would be dealt with, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said, “We asked the League. Part of Thomas’ way of playing is playing out of the blue paint, initiating contact, roaming out there. He seems to think that once he’s out, set, makes the save, that he can go directly back in his net without having anybody behind him. Well, that’s wrong. He’s got the wrong rule on that. If we’re behind him, that’s our ice and we’re allowed to stay there.”
Another factor entering tonight’s game is the condition of the ice. Temperatures have been in the high 90s for the last two days and the Canucks have been talking about how soft it is. When asked, coach Vigneault remarked, “The ice is the same for both teams. Throughout the season, team play sometime on real good ice and sometimes on ice that is not so good. So I think it will get better, though, as the day goes on here.” It is 72 degrees an hour before game time.
This will be a struggle between two teams that will apply their home-grown, disciplined style of play to win game Four. The Canucks will look to dictate play with their team speed and solid defense while the Bruins will keep with their physical play and patience with scoring chances. Expect the first goal to dictate the game’s final result.
Contact Dennis.Morrell@prohockeynews.com
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