Heartbreak, Part II

Catching Tim Thomas out of position, Alex Burrows scored just 11 seconds into overtime to give Vancouver a 3-2 victory over the Bruins in Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals Saturday night. 

Entering the third period of Game Two, it appeared as though the Bruins had finally solved the mighty Canucks.

Up 2-1 in a game they absolutely had to have, Boston was carrying the play and looked poised to even the Stanley Cup Final series at one game apiece.

Then, just like that, it all spiraled out of control.

With less than eleven minutes remaining in regulation, Daniel Sedin tied the score and then Alex Burrows took advantage of a monumental miscue by Tim Thomas to net the game-winner just 11 seconds into overtime to give the Canucks a thrilling 3-2 victory before an electric sell-out crowd of 18,860 at Rogers Arena.

With the painful loss, Boston suffers its second heartbreaking defeat in as many games and now trails Vancouver 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

"I think we lost the game ourselves," admitted Bruins center David Krejci. "Obviously they played well, but we had the game in our hands and we just gave it away."

"It [stinks] right now that we weren't able to come out on top with a win here," added Milan Lucic. "We've just got to work that much harder in order to win."

Falling behind quickly yet again, Boston began Game Two in an early 1-0 hole after Burrows' scored his 8th goal of the postseason on the power play less than eight minutes in. If you remember correctly, this is the same Burrows that bit Patrice Bergeron's finger in Game One, drawing the ire of Bruins fans yet no suspension from the NHL.

Thank you, Colin Campbell.

The game would remain 1-0 until midway through the second period when Boston finally broke through against Roberto Luongo (28 saves) for two goals in less than three minutes. The first came at 9:00 when Milan Lucic hammered home a rebound off a blast from Johnny Boychuk at the point.

Continuing to surge, the Bruins took a 2-1 lead at 11:35 when the ageless Mark Recchi deflected a wrist shot from Zdeno Chara past Luongo on the power play. YES, the power play, of which the Bruins were 1-3 on Saturday night. In doing so, Recchi became the oldest player ever to score a goal in the Finals (43).

However, the lead was somewhat short-lived as Vancouver scored the equalizer at 9:37 of the third period. Once again, it was Burrows igniting the Canucks, corralling a rebound in front and then feeding a wide-open Daniel Sedin for an easy lay-up goal past the helpless Thomas.

Then, before Bruins fans could even catch their breath at the end of regulation, Burrows ended it with the blink of an eye just 11 seconds in.

Remarkably, the play started out in the Bruins favor, with Bergeron winning the opening face-off back to defenseman Andrew Ference. However, Ference's pass along the glass was picked off by Alexander Edler, who proceeded to feed Daniel Sedin, who then found a streaking Burrows in the neutral zone.

"We didn't connect on that first pass," admitted Ference. "The transition came back at us."

Gaining speed, Burrows sliced into the Boston zone, went wide on Chara and then faked out Thomas, who came way out of his crease to challenge the Canucks forward. With the Bruins goaltender out of position, Burrows wrapped around the open net and then slid the puck home for the game-winner.

"A mistake is a mistake, no matter what," admitted Thomas, who played well but will no doubt be remembered for his monumental miscue instead of his 30 saves. "You've just got to move on."

While an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup Finals might seem like an insurmountable mountain to climb, especially against the best team in the NHL, glass-half-full Bruins die-hards know this is exactly the type of situation our beloved Black and Gold have thrived under thus far in the playoffs.

Pushed to the cliff, their backs against the wall, face to face with adversity, this team has responded.

In the opening round, Boston dropped the first two games at home before eventually coming back to win the series in a heart-stopping Game Seven.

Against Tampa in the Conference Finals they squandered a 3-2 series lead only to win Game Seven in overtime, earning a trip to the Finals for the first time in 21 years.

"We've been able to bounce back before," said head coach Claude Julien. "We've gone through the experience of being down two games to none against Montreal. That was probably worse because we lost them at home. is it a better team here? Absolutely. The team that makes it to the Final is a better team."

"But it doesn't change the fact that we've been through it. We didn't come here just to roll over."

Amen, Claude. 

Waist deep in an 0-2 hole, many bandwagon followers have already aborted ship at the sight of stormy waters. 

Fine by us die-hards. 

Because on Monday night, when the series shifts back to Boston and our beloved Black and Gold play like gods, we will be able to say that Game Three was the defining contest of the series.

The game in which the resilient Bruins stepped up once again and ignited a Stanley Cup Finals comeback that has been on a collision course with destiny since 1972.