Boston Bruins: Round Four Game Three (Canucks)

     That's what I'm talking about!  That's what this team needed.  It sucks that the wake up call was yet another cheap shot by Vancouver and at the expense of one of our best scorers, but man was there a different team on the ice for the last two periods last night.  I commend Claude Julian for putting Shawn Thorton back in the lineup.  He was definitely a major cause of the change in play.  His presence alone sent the Boston crowd into a frenzy.  He set the mood early by nailing Burrows on his first shift.  He challenged the whole Vancouver bench when their bullshit reached the boiling point.  And all those people who said he didn't have any effect on the goal scoring no nothing about hockey.  His work in the corners led directly to the Krejic goal that pretty much put the game away.  Last night was the way the Bruins have to play if they are going to win this thing and, as far as I'm concerned, Shawn Thorton was the MVP.
     I know there is a group of people who feel the Bruins gooned it up last night, that there is no place in the game for what happened last night.  I think those people have it all wrong.  What happened last night was the direct effect of a team getting fed up with a dirty team the league has made clear they are going to do nothing to stop.  There are only so many liberties a team can give up before they have to defend themselves and that's what last night was about, self-defense.  If the NHL had stepped in when they should have and suspended Burrows, last night would not have devolved like it did.  I'm glad to see they final did the right thing and suspended Rome for the rest of the playoffs, but it's too little too late for stopping this series from turning seriously chippy.
     And could it have been any clearer at the end of the night who the NHL wants to win this cup?  Daniel Sedin gets up after the play is over and everyone is skating back to the bench and grabs Andrew Ference by the neck and both players get a 10 minute misconduct.  Ryan Kessler take a cheap shot at Adam McQuaid and Shawn Thorton comes over to step in, he doesn't throw a punch, he doesn't even touch Kessler, and he gets a 10 minute misconduct.  I've never seen someone kicked out of a game for just standing up to another player.  Mean while, Hastings slashes Krejic's legs out from under him, gets a pass and scores a goal because the guy who was defending him is layed out on the ice and nobody bats an eye.
     Yes, the odds and the league are against the Bruins right now, but I still have hope.  Last night was the throw back performance I called for.  Even though the score was really 5-1 because Vancouver gave up late in that game, the Bruins kicked Canuck butt all over the ice.  Now the question is, can they keep it up for three more games.  The next game is huge.  If we lose the series is all but over.  If not, the momentum will be totally on our side and we may have turned a corner in the series.  I can't wait for tomorrow!