Stanley Cup finals Game 7: Boston captures Stanley Cup with 4-0 victory over Vancouver
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Canada’s Stanley Cup drought continues, its best hope in years cruelly dashed by the gritty Boston Bruins.
Defying the odds and a historical record that strongly favored the home team in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins on Wednesday played a patient and near-perfect defensive game to defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, at Rogers Arena and win their first Cup title since 1972.
The Bruins raced off their bench at the final buzzer, mobbing goaltender Tim Thomas and hurling their sticks and gloves in the air as they embraced. Nathan Horton, who suffered a concussion in Game 3, skated out in uniform to join the celebration.
Thomas was voted the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
The crowd saluted the home team with one last chant of “Go Canucks, Go” and players responded by lifting their sticks in the air.
The Canucks had the NHL’s best record during the regular season and led the league in scoring but they were blanked Wednesday by Thomas for the second time in the finals. Patrice Bergeron scored twice, the second time a morale-breaking short-handed goal, and Brad Marchand scored twice -- the second into an empty net -- to lead the Bruins to their first road victory in the finals.
No Canada-based team has won the Cup since 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens prevailed over the Kings. That has become a sore point here but the high-powered Canucks seemed to have a good chance to change that. But they couldn’t solve the Bruins’ defense or withstand Boston’s physicality.
We’ll have more on the game soon at latimes.com/sports
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Boston leads Vancouver, 3-0, heading into third period
Boston leads Vancouver, 1-0, after first period
-- Helene Elliott in Vancouver, Canada