The Boston Bruins shut out Vancouver 4-0 in the decisive game seven in their series on Wednesday night to lift the Stanley Cup.
Visitors dominate in decider in Canada
The Boston Bruins shut out Vancouver 4-0 in the decisive game seven in their series on Wednesday night to lift the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins were on the brink of defeat when they trailed 3-2 in the series, but had stayed alive with a 5-2 victory in game six.
And they carried that momentum into the decider as Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand both scored twice at Rogers Arena to carry them to a first Stanley Cup success in 39 years.
At the other end Boston goaltender Tim Thomas was in superb form, finishing the game with 37 saves.
Bergeron opened the scoring15 minutes into the first period and Marchand, who scored in all four of Boston's wins, made it two at 12:13 in the second. Bergeron put the visitors further in control with a third five minutes later before Marchand clinched the title with number four late in the third period.
Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault admitted the performance of NHL post-season MVP Thomas was key. He held the Canucks to just eight goals in seven finals games.
Great goaltending
"Boston played a real strong game," Vigneault told www.nhl.com. "They've got great goaltending and they were able to score a couple of tough goals around our net. They deserved to win."
The Canucks continue to be perennial bridesmaids - they've reached the finals three times now and have lost all of them.
Centre Ryan Kesler told the team's website: "It's tough. I really thought we were going to win. I can't put it into words right now.
"It's Game Seven, no excuses, you've got to lay it out there. I'm proud of our guys, we laid it out there, we had everything we had. A couple of bounces, that's the difference. It's tough right now, it's really tough.
"I'm a leader on this team and I did everything I possibly could today. I can hold my head up high, but it hurts, it definitely hurts right now."
