VANCOUVER — Home ice didn't mean a lot early on in the postseason.
Road wins were common, as the Bruins learned firsthand when they dropped the first two games of the opening round at the TD Garden, then won the next two in Montreal to pull even.
But home-ice advantage seems to weigh much heavier as the playoffs roll on, and in the Stanley Cup Final, it's become a very daunting challenge to win on the road. Home teams are 15-2 overall in the Final since 2009, and the first four games of this series have all been won by the home team.
The challenge facing the Bruins Friday night in Vancouver will be to buck that trend and carry the momentum from their two blowout victories in Boston into Game 5 at Rogers Arena.
"I expect them to play like they did when we were here last time," Bruins forward Daniel Paille said. "They have the crowd. They have the energy. They're going to try and create that momentum through them. Our job is to stay within the course, stay focused and realize that we got a job to do. I think if we maintain that and we'll be good."
The Canucks are counting on the return home being enough to rebound after the Bruins won the two games in Boston by a combined 12-1 tally.
"We've been good on the road throughout this year too, but I think playing at home you get into your routines," Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said. "You spend time away from the rink with family. You can relax a bit more, get your mind off hockey. Then you come in here and play in front of your home fans. That's where everybody wants to be."
The Bruins know it won't be easy to win in a hostile environment like Rogers Arena, but they also know they'll have to win here at some point to take the series. To do that, they need to find a way to translate the approach they took in those two games at the Garden to how they play Friday in Vancouver.
"It's definitely going to be emotional out there," Bruins forward Michael Ryder said. "When we show a lot of emotion in our game we play well, but we have to keep it under control. Tonight the fans are going to behind the Canucks, and they're going to be loud. I think they're going to come out hard and try to set the pace early. I think for us, we can't panic. We have to do everything we did in Boston. Even though our fans aren't going to be behind us [in Vancouver], it's just a matter of us having that same mindframe and just playing our game and not getting off track."
The Canucks fans, meanwhile, will be doing everything they can to distract the Bruins from playing their game.
"You can't control what the fans do or what they say or how they cheer," Bruins forward and Vancouver native Milan Lucic said. "We just know that they're going to be loud. We just want to focus on ourselves and what we need to do in order to play our game and be successful."
The Bruins will try to take that crowd out of the game and keep the Canucks' confidence at low ebb by getting off to a strong start and jumping out to an early lead.
"We lost the first two here, we won the last two [in Boston] and made our adjustments," Bruins forward Tyler Seguin said. "And I think to win in this building, you have to have a good start and try to get the fans out of it a little bit."
The Vancouver fans aren't above turning on their own. It could be the Canucks, and struggling goalie Roberto Luongo in particular, feeling their wrath if they get off to another slow start against the Bruins.
"Playing on home ice, that means you get to play in front of your home fans and that's going to help you for sure," Sedin said. "We can't see that as extra pressure. We have to go out there and enjoy the fans and the moment.
"They've been good," Sedin added of the Canucks fans. "Of course it's always nice if you get the support all the way through. But we're on the ice, focused on the game and if they're a little bit more quiet than normal or booing us, that's up to them. We'll play our game and we like our fans."
