The Bruins will look to stay alive and force a seventh game when they return home to Boston for Game 6 on Monday.
Third Period, 19:01, Canucks 1-0: The Bruins have pulled THomas for the extra attacker.
Third Period, 16:27, Canucks 1-0: The Bruins with their best chance in a while as Tomas Kaberle centers to Peverley in front, but he can't get much on the tip and Luongo makes the save.
Third Period, 14:09, Canucks 1-0: The Bruins kill off that penalty and go back on the attack trying to tie this one in the closing minutes.
Third Period, 12:09, Canucks 1-0: The Bruins will have to kill off a penalty before they can try to get the equalizer as Rich Peverley has been sent to the box for tripping. Killing this one off is imperative for the Bruins, but losing the two minutes is a blow in itself.
Third Period, 8:13, Canucks 1-0: The Canucks threaten again with a 2 on 1, but this time Lapierre is denied as he cuts to the middle from the right wing for the shot.
Third Period, 4:35, Canucks 1-0: The Canucks get the huge first goal and this building is a wall of noise.
Kevin Bieksa sent a shot in from the right point well wide of the net, but it bounced off the end boards to Maxim Lapierre along the goal line to the left of the net and he put in the bad-angle shot behind Thomas.
Third Period, 3:30, 0-0: The Bruins have put Peverley back on the top line with Krejci and Lucic here in the third.
Third Period, 2:30, 0-0: Alex Burrows has a chance in front, but hi shot from the slot sails high.
Third Period, 0:00, 0-0: What may or may not be the final frame is under way here at Rogers Arena in vancouver, where the Bruins and Canucks are still looking for the first goal of the night, which may be the only goal we see with the way these goalies have been playing in this one.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins didn't dominate the second period as they have in recent games, but they still kept Vancouver scoreless in the second period for the series. The Canucks had more chances this time though, thanks in part to two power plays, and Vancouver outshot Boston 12-9 in the frame. The Bruins still lead 21-18 overall, and they killed both of those penalties as the Canucks are now 1 for 24 in the series.
The hits kept on coming in the second, especially from Vancouver, which leads that category 36-22. There are now 15 different Canucks with at least one hit, led by Alex Edler's seven. The Bruins are paying a price in other ways too, as they lead in blocked shots 13-9 with Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk each having three.
The Bruins are still struggling in the faceoff circle, going just 16-24 (40 percent), with even Patrice Bergeron struggling at 5-9. Bergeron does lead the Bruins with five shots. The Bruins continued to shuffle their lines throughout the second, with Tyler Seguin seeing some time on the top line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic. Rich Peverley has moved around all game, playing quite a bit with Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder. It might be worth seeing if he can help spark the offense again by going back up on that top line as he did in Game 4.
End Second Period, 0-0: Two frames are in the books and it remains scoreless. Both teams had plenty of chances in the second period though, but Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo each came up with some big saves when needed.
Second Period, 17:56, 0-0: The Bruins are able to kill that one off as well as the PK continues to come up big. Vancouver is now 1 for 24 on the power play in the series.
Second Period, 15:56, 0-0: The Bruins are shorthanded again, as Patrice Bergeron is called for holding after losing his stick in the defensive zone. Huge kill for the Bruins without their top penalty killer up front.
Second Period, 12:44, 0-0: Both sides with golden chances to break the stalemate, but it remains scoreless. The Bruins had their best pressure with a solid shift by the fourth line leading to a chance by the second, but Marchand fired wide from in front off a feed by Recchi.
The Canucks then had an even better chance at the other end, but Taner Glass fanned on the puck with a wide-open net from the left slot. Thomas eventaully covered the puck in the crease for a faceoff.
Second Period, 9:22, 0-0: The Bruins kill that penalty off with some solid work by the PK, the Thomas stones Chris Higgins on a rebound in front just after the sides get back to even strength.
Second Period, 7:22, 0-0: The Bruins get their inevitable penalty, as Adam McQuaid is sent off for holding and Vancouver gets its first power-play chance of the night.
Second Period, 6:18, 0-0: The Bruins squander another chance with the man advantage as it remains scoreless. The Bruins did replace Campbell with Peverley on the second unit for that chance.
Second Period, 4:18, 0-0: The Bruins get another power-play chance, much to the dismay of the Rogers Arena crowd as Ryan Kesler is sent off for interference after forcing Chara into a collision with Thomas.
Second Period, 3:05, 0-0: The Bruins survive a scary shift there that began with Raffi Torres stealing a Michael Ryder clearing attempt. Thomas was forced to come up with a couple saves, then another one on the next shift when Victor Oreskovich pounced on a loose puck for a quick shot from the right slot.
Second Period, 1:28, 0-0: The sides are back at full strength with Lucic and Burrows out of the box.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The middle frame is under way here in Vancouver, where the teams will begin this scoreless second period playing 4 on 4 for the first 1:28 after the matching minors to Milan Lucic and Alex Burrows.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins turned in a strong road period to open this one, but may regret not cashing in on the first three power-play chances of the night. An early goal on any of those opportunities could have changed things dramatically.
Instead, Roberto Luongo has stopped all 12 shots he's faced and appears to be back on his game. Tim THomas has faced just six shots, but made some big saves as well.
The Canucks have come out hitting in a big way, leading the Bruins 23-13 in that category. Alex Edler leads all players with five hits, but it's been a team effort as 13 different Canucks have recorded hits already. The Bruins have hits from 10 players, with Tyler Seguin surprisingly leading with three.
Boston needs to do a better job in the faceoff circle, where they are just 6-13 (32 percent) and they have to cash in on their power-play chances in the final 40 minutes. In part because of those early power plays, Claude Julien has mixed up his lines a lot so far. Even without the last change on the road, the Bruins may be better off sticking with more regular combinations after the success they had with those lines in the last two games.
End First Period, 0-0: The first 20 minutes are in the books and it remains scoreless. The Bruins did outshot Vancouver 12-6 thanks in part to three power plays, but Roberto Luongo has looked much sharper than he did in the last two game.
First Period, 18:38, 0-0: Milan Lucic and Alex Burrows get tied up before a faceoff and Burrows goes down. Both go to the box, Lucic for tripping and Burrows for diving as we'll play 4 on 4 for the next two minutes.
First Period, 18:38, 0-0: Maxim Lapierre gets a light tap from Zdeno Chara and doubles over like he was shot. Fortunately the refs don't by the act and no penalty is called.
First Period, 16:13, 0-0: The Bruins fail to convert another power play, though Patrice Bergeron did have a pair of back-to-back bids in front with a tip on a Dennis Seidenberg shot and the rebound that followed.
First Period, 14:13, 0-0: The Bruins will get their third power-play chance of the game as former Bruin Andrew Alberts is sent off for roughing. Boston had three shots on its first two power plays, and has to take advantage of this chance as the Canucks will get their chances with the extra man eventually.
First Period, 13:50, 0-0: Tons of action early in this one, with the Bruins leadig 8-3 in shots but both teams creating chances and Vancouver actually having the better of the physical play so far with some big hits.
First Period, 8:54, 0-0: Another fruitless power play for the the Bruins, who are using Greg Campbell on the second unit in this one.
First Period, 6:54, 0-0: The Bruins get another power-play chance as Henrik Sedin is sent to the box for interference. Boston needs to do something with this chance after failing on their first man advantage.
First Period, 4:05, 0-0: The Bruins nearly strike early as Chris Kelly headmans an odd-man break and takes the shot himself from the right wing. He beats Luongo, but hits the crossbar and the puck goes out of play.
First Period, 3:39, 0-0: The Bruins can't get much going on that power play and that gets the crowd into it big time. The Canucks have come out hittinge arly, playing much more physical than they did in Boston so far.
First Period, 1:39, 0-0: The Bruins get an early power-play chance as Raffi Torres is sent off for tripping less than two minutes into play.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: The pre-game festivities are over, both anthems sung and Game 5 is under way here at a packed and very, very loud Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
8:10 p.m.: The Bruins will open with their usual starting front line of Patrice Bergeron flanked by Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi. Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk get the start on defense as Claude Julien breaks up his top pair to make sure at least one is out opposite Vancouver's top line. Tim Thomas is in goal.
The Canucks counter with Alex Burrows, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin up front, Christian Ehrhoff and Sami Salo on the blue line and Roberto Luongo in net.
8:05 p.m.: No surprises with the Bruins' scratches. Jordan Caron, SHane Hnidy and Steven Kampfer are out after taking the warm-up, joining the rest of the Black Aces and injured forward Nathan Horton.
8 p.m.: The Canucks have officially scratched Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis remains out. Christopher Tanev is in on defense for Vancouver.
The Canucks stick with their forward lines from Game 4. Dartmouth product Tanner Glass remains in, while Jeff Tambellini is a scratch for the second straigh game. Alexandre Bolduc remains out, along with the usual Black Aces and suspended defenseman Aaron Rome.
7:55 p.m.: The Bruins rolled the same line combinations in warm-ups that they used in Game 4. That leaves Rich Peverley on the top line in Nathan Horton's spot. No surprise that Claude Julien will stick with that, as Peverley scored two goals in his firstn game on that line on Wednesday.
Jordan Caron took warm-ups again, as did defensemen Shane Hnidy and Steven Kampfer, but they did not participate in the line drills and will remain scratches.
The full line combinations from warm-ups:
Lucic-Krejci-Peverley
Marchand-Bergeron-Recchi
Ryder-Kelly-Seguin
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Seidenberg
Ference-Boychuk
Kaberle-McQuaid
7:45 p.m.: Christopher Tanev is on the ice for warm-ups for the Canucks. Keith Ballard, who played Game 4 in place of suspended Aaron Rome and struggled mightily, is not on the ice. Nor is Dan Hamhuis, who remains out with an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 1.
Tanev will play his first game in the Final and just his third playoff game as the Canucks continue to juggle their defense.
Tanner Glass was on the ice as well and it looks like he will remain in on the fourth line after replacing Jeff Tambellini there in Game 4. Tambellini did not take the warm-up.
7:40 p.m.: The Bruins and Canucks have taken the ice for warm-ups here at Rogers Arena, and Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo led the teams out.
That will once again be the goalie matchup to start Game 5, though the Bruins will try to drive Luongo out of the net early again as they did in Game 4.
8 a.m: After a shaky start to the Stanley Cup Final with back-to-back losses in Vancouver, the Bruins bounced back in a big way on their home ice.
Boston rolled to a pair of wins at the Garden to even the series. They didn't just win though. They dominated the Canucks by a combined score of 12-1 in those two games.
But the series now shifts back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Friday, and the Bruins still have to do the one thing they haven't done yet in this series – win at Rogers Arena.
"Obviously in order to jump ahead we've got to win in Vancouver," Bruins forward Daniel Paille said. "They're a tough team to beat. We saw that in the last two games [in Vancouver] and they're going to be trying to prove a point, especially in their home building. So they're going to be tough to beat."
The key to winning in Vancouver will be playing the same way they played at home. The Bruins outskated, outhit and outworked the Canucks in those two games, and need to take the same all-out approach on the road.
"I think we've got to bring our game with us," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Simple as that. We have to bring our game. That has to continue in Vancouver. It doesn't matter where you are. You've got to play the same way whether you're at home or on the road."
While the Canucks were blown out 8-1 and 4-0 in the two games in Boston, the Bruins were tight in both games in Vancouver and easily could have escaped with the win in either. Game 1 was a scoreless stalemate until the Canucks struck for the game's lone goal with 18.5 seconds left, and the Bruins led 2-1 in Game 2 before Vancouver tied it in the third and won 3-2 on a goal 11 seconds into overtime.
The Bruins didn't let those potentially devastating losses derail their Cup hopes, however, and came back stronger than ever in Games 3 and 4 despite losing star forward Nathan Horton to a concussion early in Game 3.
Now it's time to see if Vancouver can shake off the effects of two demoralizing, lopsided losses, or if the Bruins can maintain their momentum and get the road win they'll need to win the franchise's first Cup since 1972 as the series has now become a best of three with two of those games at what will no doubt be a very hostile Rogers Arena.
"You'd like to think so," Bruins forward Rich Peverley said of being able to carry momentum into Vancouver. "They have obviously played pretty well at home and won their first two games at home. If we want to win this thing we are going to have to win one of the next two in their building."
The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. out here in Vancouver), so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action from Rogers Arena.
