Roche: Bruins Would Not Be Denied
BOSTON (CBS) - Part One accomplished and now on to Part Two.
The Boston Bruins once again showed the resiliency that has been their trademark all season long as they pounded the Vancouver Canucks, 8-1 in Game Three of the Stanley Cup Finals.
They are back in the series trailing 2 games to 1. Now they have to do it again Wednesday night.
But first, let's take a look at Game Three.
First and foremost s the nasty hit by Aaron Rome on Nathan Horton.
I have been covering sports in Boston for 27 years and I have never heard the type of sound I heard when Horton's body then head hit the ice. It made me sick to my stomach.
I remember being out in Oakland in 2003 when Johnny Damon and Damien Jackson collided. Damon was out cold for a few minutes on the ground. The Horton fall reminded me of that as well as the Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard.
Word from a friend at the Garden is that Horton thought he was in Vancouver when he was being taken off the ice.
Let's hope and pray that the young man is o-k.
After that incident the Bruins simply would not be denied.
They dedicated themselves to rally around their teammate and boy, did they respond, as they put up 4 goals in both the second and third periods. They also physically pounded the Canucks.
Dan Roche Game 3 Video Blog
Because Julien re-inserted Shawn Thornton into the lineup and it paid off as Thornton was a bottle of energy all night long. He, along with Andrew Ference, started hitting everything in sight early and never stopped.
It also appeared that the Bruins had enough of Vanouver's chippy play from Games 1 and 2 and decided to fight back. There was a lot of stick work done after whistles, etc.
Even Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic let their emotions get the best of them as they mocked Alex Bellows and Maxime Lapierre. And by the way, both players were scolded by head coach Claude Julien for doing so. I trust it won't happen again.
And, don't forget the performance of Tim Thomas. He was brilliant from start to finish with 40 saves while even getting in on the physical play. He laid a beauty of a hit on Henrik Sedin at the top of the crease that was as memorable as they come. Great stuff.
So the Bruins are one step closer to getting back into this series.
I do think they need to win Wednesday to make it matter. It won't be easy as you know the Canucks will be flying. Also, Tyler Seguin will step in for Horton on the roster... some big skates to fill.
If the Bruins can pull out another W and make it a best-of-three series heading back to Vancouver, then I'll take my chances with this Bruins team.
They haven't let us down yet...
