The Canucks took the first two games of the Stanley Cup at home. In Game 1, Roberto Luongo pitched a shutout, as the Canucks blanked the Bruins 1-0. Luongo had 36 saves in between the pipes. Game 2 was another close game but the Canucks once again were victorious at Rogers Arena in overtime 3-2. Luongo was great with 28 saves in the net. In Game 5 in Vancouver with the series tied at 2, the Canucks won another close game 1-0. Luongo had his second shutout of the series with 31 big saves in net.
When the series was in Boston, the Canucks were a different team. Although Roberto Luongo said, "I like playing on the road, almost more than at home. The opposing crowds pump me up," Luongo looked horrible in net in Boston and the Bruins offense was firing on all cylinders. For the Canucks offensively, they couldn't score on Boston netminder Tim Thomas at TD Garden. In Game 3, the Bruins won 8-1 after the score was tied at 0 after the first period. Game 4 was another Boston victory in Boston. Luongo was pulled early in the third period after allowing four goals in a 4-0 loss. In a must win for the Bruins at home in Game 6 with the series at 3-2 in favor of the Canucks, the Bruins once again were great at home with a 5-2 victory. They scored 4 goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period and the Canucks had to pull Roberto Luongo from goal once again.
If you watched the Canucks in Vancouver and then in Boston, you would think that they were two different teams and you would think that Roberto Luongo was two different players. In 3 games in Vancouver, Luongo had 2 shutouts and allowed 2 goals on 95 shots. When Luongo was in Boston, he let in 17 goals and had just 51 saves. The Bruins even admitted that they play much better at home than on the road. Brad Marchand said, "It's always easier to be at home. We feed off the energy, off our fans. They just bring out the best in us." Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg voiced a similar opinion, as he said, "I guess both teams are just really comfortable playing in front of their home crowd, feeding off the energy and playing well. It looks like we're comfortable with the way we played. Just as they did, we feed off the energy in our building." Zdeno Chara added, "It just seems we play better at home. On the road, we have some lapses, do some things wrong and do some things right. You have to pay attention for 60 minutes."
The advantage of playing at home in the Stanley Cup Finals has been a trend for years. Of the previous 80 Stanley Cups, the team with home ice advantage had won 57 times including 19 of the last 23 and 11 of the last 12. Since 2009, the home team was 17-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals coming into the Canucks- Bruins Game 7. In 2009 and 2010, the road team won just 1 game. The home team was also 12-3 in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Lucky enough for the Vancouver Canucks and especially Roberto Luongo, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals was back in Vancouver at Rogers Arena. Daniel Sedin said, " We're 3-3 and we won al three games at home and we have the fourth game at home. So we have the seventh game at home and we'll take that. We are confident." The Bruins would have to get over their road woes or they would fall in Game 7 and have to watch the Canucks lift the cup.
Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien said, "We've created ourselves another opportunity and it's up to us to take advantage of it but we've got to be hungrier than we have been the last three times in Vancouver." Bruins defensemen Johnny Boychuk added, "It's the last game of the season. This is what you play for. Obviously, it's a little kid's dream to win the Stanley Cup. And to do it on the road, it doesn't matter where as long as you win it." The Bruins had to change something up this time in Vancouver, so injuried forward Nathan Horton squirted a bottle of melted ice from TD Garden onto Rogers Arena and the Bruins were a different team than the three previous times they were in Vancouver. The Bruins took advantage of their fourth chance to knock off the Canucks on the road in Game 7. Tim Thomas was great, as he had been all series, home or away. The real key was the Boston offense, which scored four goals including one shorthanded goal to help the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years since 1972. The Bruins overcame home ice advantage that had been so useful to the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup and walk away with Lord Stanley.
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