BOSTON — If the Bruins-Vancouver Canucks rivalry was fading entering 2016, Thursday night’s game might have officially laid it to rest.
The seventh meeting between Boston and Vancouver since the conclusion of their epic 2011 Stanley Cup Final did not feature anything resembling the hostility that made that series one of the most compelling in recent memory.
In fact, neither side spent a single minute in the penalty box during the Canucks’ 4-2 victory at TD Garden — the first penalty-free game involving the Bruins since March 6, 2014.
“I actually had some time to think about that — not too many shots there,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who faced 26 shots and finished with 23 saves. “But I mean, it’s one of those games that, not a whole lot of scrappiness going on, really nothing going on, so (it’s) tough for the refs to call penalties. I guess there were a couple times they could have called, but they decided not to.”
Most players questioned about the clean nature of the contest remarked on the rarity of games devoid of penalties but did not seem to view one involving the Bruins and Canucks as any more noteworthy.
“It’s going to happen once in a while,” Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows, one of the primary targets of Bruins fans’ hatred in 2011, told reporters. “I think we’ve tried to be more disciplined and especially we talked about it. They’re the first(-ranked) power play in the league, so we wanted to make sure we were staying out of the box.”
“I think it’s another game,” added Daniel Sedin, who scored Vancouver’s final two goals in the win. “I think obviously they have a good team, so that will never change. I think you want to play well against good teams. I think that’s why we get up against these guys, and I think they do against us, too. So, this was fun.”
Even Bruins winger Brad Marchand, a longtime Canucks antagonist and arguably the face of the once-heated rivalry, agreed.
“I mean, what was that, six or seven years ago?” Marchand said. “It’s long gone now.”
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
