Editor’s note: Starting Tuesday, March 24, NESN will re-air memorable games from the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup run. Up next is Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup final against the Vancouver Canucks. See the full schedule by clicking here.
The Bruins were not returning to Boston in the best position after Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
They dropped the first two games to the Canucks in Vancouver, losing in gut-punching fashion both times. A Raffi Torres goal with 18 seconds to play in Game 1 handed the B’s their first loss, then it was Alex Burrows, who grew to be detested around Boston, that ended Game 2 just 11 seconds into overtime to give Vancouver the 3-2 win.
Here are four things you might have forgotten about Game 2, which viewers can watch at 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday night on NESN.
1. Burrows’ winner actually wasn’t the fastest OT goal in NHL playoff history
Considering Burrows needed just 11 seconds in overtime to score the game’s winning goal, it’s hard to imagine that it actually was not the fastest OT goal in NHL playoff history to that point.
Instead, it is tied for second. The top spot goes to the Montreal Canadiens’ Brian Skrudland, who ended Game 2 of the 1986 Cup Final just 9 seconds into overtime. Burrows’ goal shares the second spot with J.P. Parise’s goal for the New York Islanders in Game 3 of the 1975 preliminary round.
2. Burrows probably shouldn’t have been playing in the first place
Lest we forget that it was Burrows who chomped down on Patrice Bergeron’s fingers in a Game 1 scrum at the end of the first period.
Very few people were amused by the move, Bergeron included, so many thought a suspension might have been imminent given the egregious nature of the move. But he escaped unscathed, which ultimately made it all the tougher for Bruins fans to swallow when he was the one to score the winner that sent the series back to Boston with the B’s down 2-0.
That said, Burrows listens to his father.
“My parents don’t really like the negative press I get sometimes,” Burrows said after the game, via The AP. “It hurts them, not me. My dad told me I should go out and score some goals because that’s what’s really going to hurt them.”
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3. Tim Thomas set a Bruins record during the loss
Thomas saw plenty of action over the course of the 2011 playoffs, to the point that he set the franchise record for minutes played by a Bruin during the postseason in just Game 2.
The B’s netminder, who made 30 saves in the loss, broke Andy Moog’s record of 1,196 minutes played during the Bruins’ 1990 Cup run.
4. The Bruins actually scored on the power play
Go figure, right?
The power play was nonexistent for much of the playoffs, but of course it cashed in on a game that the Bruins lost. At 11:35 in the first period, Mark Recchi put the Bruins up 2-1 on a nice redirect in the slot with Aaron Rome in the box for holding.
Prior to Recchi’s goal, the Bruins were on a 5-for-68 power-play drought.
