BOSTON — It’s never a good thing when the starting goalie is asked if he knows if he’s starting the next game. Especially when there may only be three left in the entire season. But minutes after allowing all four of the Bruins goals, that’s what Luongo faced.
“Bud,” he said to the questioner. “Game just finished.”
Is Luongo?
Until going to Boston, he was the picture of calm and confidence during the Stanley Cup Finals. He was on his way to shaking his reputation as an unstable big-game goalie. That has changed dramatically after being lit up in TD Garden for 12 goals in two games.
“He’s the same as anyone else. He’s been playing good the whole year,” Daniel Sedin said following the Canucks’ second consecutive loss. “Right now there’s a few games left, he can’t be down or stuff like that. He has to play his game, play the way that got him here and we as a team.”
Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks are now in a best-of-three series with the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup, with the series tied at two games apiece. (AP Photo)
That may be the bigger issue here. Luongo will take his heat for his imperfections against the Bruins, made more obvious by the impenetrable Tim Thomas across the ice. But he’s not getting any help from his teammates. The dozen goals he allowed is an ugly number. So too, is the one goal his teammates have supported him with in two games.
One goal.
Henrik Sedin doesn’t have a point in this series and just registered his first two shots on goal in Game 4. Daniel Sedin had a goal and assist in Game 2 but hasn’t done anything otherwise.
Ryan Kesler? The guy who took over the Nashville series and refused to let the Predators beat the Canucks? The guy who was likely the frontrunner for the Conn Smythe until, oh, about the moment he deflected a shot past his own goalie in Game 3? He has one assist in this series. He was a minus-4 in Boston.
Yes, Luongo has been bad, but there’s a lot of blame to go around. Including the Canucks’ inability to match Boston’s emotion and drive for two games.
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“I would say that they were probably the hungrier team the last two games,” Luongo said.
That’s a problem. Like they did in Round 1 against the Blackhawks, the Canucks have allowed a team back in the series after taking a commanding early lead. But it’s worse now.
Instead of having to win four consecutive games like the Blackhawks nearly did, the Bruins need just two more.
If you believe in game-to-game momentum, the Bruins certainly have it. Good thing for the Canucks, they don’t believe in it. They can’t.
“We had all the momentum coming here,” said Henrik Sedin. “Chicago had all the momentum for Game 7. Nashville had all the momentum when we came there for Game 6. I don’t know. There’s three games left or two games left. There’s a lot of talk on momentum from the outside but we’re focused on the next game.”
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They’re also focused on trying to solve Thomas. During one five-minute interview, Daniel Sedin said the Canucks have to “find a way to solve him” at least three times.
They would never admit it, but Thomas is in their heads. The Canucks were satisfied with their shot total—38—and they were also pleased with the amount of quality chances they got on Thomas.
“We had a few point-blank shots tonight,” Daniel Sedin said.
None of them went in. Thomas has the look of a special goalie going on a special run and that’s trouble for the Canucks.
Now, headed back to Vancouver for Friday’s Game 5, Thomas and his teammates have to find a way to keep it rolling. The Bruins seem to play better in the face of adversity. They play better when they’re emotionally charged. For the first time all series, they have the momentum, and the adversity has shifted to the opposing dressing room.
“Every time this year that we’ve faced adversity as a team, we’ve rose to the challenge,” Thomas said. “We needed to do it one more time because we were down 2-0. Now we’ve done that for two games. The challenge for us will be to keep doing that.”
Source
Manny Malhotra makes his return to the Canucks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals nearly three months after an eye injury that threatened to end his career. (AP Photo)
Henrik Sedin isn’t happy about his play, or that of the Canucks when they have the man advantage, after two games against the Bruins. (AP Photo)
