Boston needs a win to extend playoffs
Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins looks on against the Vancouver Canucks during Game Five of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. (June 10, 2011) Credit: Getty
BOSTON -- Even after all the taunts, bites and vicious hits that the Vancouver Canucks have thrown at the Boston Bruins over the past two weeks, skating the Stanley Cup around the Garden ice would be the biggest insult of all.
The Canucks could do it after Game 6 on Monday night, when they'll attempt to finish off the testiest Stanley Cup finals in recent memory. If the Bruins win again, the Cup will be claimed Wednesday in Vancouver.
After racking up the regular season's best record and then surviving several playoff scares, the Canucks don't want to wait another day for their franchise's first championship.
"We're in a great spot," captain Henrik Sedin said Sunday after the Canucks' last practice in Boston.
"We're one win away from winning it, so we're excited. But we know if we get out of our comfort zone and start getting overly excited, it's going to take away from our game. That's a key for us, to come in here tomorrow and play the way we have all year." Although New England has rallied behind the Bruins in their quest for their first Cup since 1972, the streets of downtown Boston are unlikely to be filled Monday night with more than 100,000 screaming hockey fans and revelers, as Vancouver was last Friday when the Canucks moved to the brink with a 1-0 victory in Game 5.
Vancouver might be ready for a party that will make last year's Olympic festivities look like a high school dance, but nothing in the series' first five games suggests anybody will be celebrating before Wednesday.
The home teams are unbeaten in the finals, and Boston has won nine of its last 10 at the Garden after losing its first two to Montreal in the first round.
