It's true, obviously. The Bruins' style points during Monday's Game 3 victory won't get them any closer than a 2-1 series deficit. That was also true when the Bruins fell in life-sucking fashion in Games 1 and 2.
While the Canucks might have been embarrassed on the Garden ice, they've still got control of the series as the teams shift their focus to Game 4 on Wednesday.
"It's not about goal differential in the playoffs, and that's a good thing," Canucks forward Henrik Sedin told reporters. "When you get outscored like we were [Monday], I think that's a great wakeup call for us."
The Canucks were the better team through the vast majority of the first two games, so Monday's face plant was shocking for all involved. It might have resulted from the Bruins' added intensity after they rallied around Nathan Horton.
Or the Canucks could have simply laid down once the deficit looked insurmountable in the second period. There's no doubt that they looked rattled and out of sorts in the third period when the Bruins established their physicality during play and after the whistles.
But at the end of the day, the momentum will cease before Game 4, when everyone starts anew — another cliché the Canucks can take to the bank.
"In the playoffs, a loss is a loss," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "You lose in OT, or you lose like we did [Monday], it's a loss in the loss column, so we're going to take [Tuesday] to analyze certain aspects of our game. Then we're going to come here on Wednesday and get ready to play a good game."
Canucks forward Alex Burrows, one of Boston's newest villains, said there was no need to worry before reaching into his proverbial pocket and pulling out the Presidents' Trophy.
"A loss is a loss, really," Burrows told reporters. "We took it one game at a time all year, and we were the No. 1 team for that reason. We've got a strong group, a lot of mature people. We're going to forget about this one and move on."
