Times guest blogger Bobby Ryan breaks down Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals
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It was another goaltender battle in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, a 1-0 victory for Vancouver over Boston. Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo was obviously the star of the show. He certainly deserved to be first star of the game. He made some big saves and anytime you pitch a shutout in the Stanley Cup finals, it’s huge.
Game 5 went exactly as I thought it would go. The pace of the game was very good. Vancouver and Boston didn’t trade chances as much as in previous games. It was definitely more of a reserved, defensive-style game than earlier in the series. Since Vancouver got blown out twice in Boston, I thought they would recover and play the style of game that they did.
The thing that surprised me most was that the Maxim Lapierre line had numerous chances throughout the game and dominated their matchups. I was happy for Max when he scored early in the third period. He’s looked good throughout the series and played a reserved, quiet game. He went about his business and got rewarded for it. Even though he was in Anaheim for just a short period of time earlier this season, it was cool to see him contribute in a big way.
The Bruins have to find a way for their depth lines to provide more offense. They have to solve Luongo, like they did in Games 3 and 4 at the TD Garden in Boston. The big thing for the Bruins is to get more traffic in front of the net and make him uncomfortable. Luongo is a goalie who could become unsure of himself at times. But he looked so calm and steady last game; if he plays like that again, it’s going to be scary for Boston.
Home ice didn’t seem like much of an advantage early in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it has meant everything in the finals with the home team winning the all five games of the series. The distance between Vancouver and Boston is a huge factor and those are two very tough buildings to play in. The fans can really rally around their team when things are going well and momentum is in their favor. I’m not surprised to see the home team winning as much as they are, though I think Game 6 is going to be different.
Luongo is going to be confident heading into Monday’s game. Vancouver closes it out in six.
--Bobby Ryan
The Times is pleased to have Ducks winger Bobby Ryan blogging for us, along with Ducks teammates Corey Perry and George Parros, during the Stanley Cup finals.