Stanley Cup Finals 2011: Marchand, Bergeron Key B's First Title in 40 Years

Boston trailed 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs.

Montreal had two straight home games where they could wrap up the series with two wins.

Instead, Boston came through in the first round. And the second. Add the third. Finally, the Stanley Cup.

Tim Thomas is the reason.

Thomas turned away 37 shots and Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored two goals apeice as the Boston Bruins captured their first Stanley Cup title in 40 years. This was Boston's third Game 7 this postseason.

Early on, Vancouver and their fans were ready for their second Game 7 of the postseason. It was 0-0 and both teams were playing evenly. However, it wouldn't be the home team with the first strike.

Brad Marchand got the puck on a faceoff, and after skating around with it for a while, he passed it to Bergeron, who fired a one-timer past Luongo for the first goal of the game. The momentum was on Boston's side.

The Canucks didn't give up another goal in the first, but they also didn't score any. Tim Thomas turned away 37 shots in the game for his fourth shutout in Boston's last 12 games.

The second period was just like the first for Vancouver, but worse. With 7:47 left in the period, Brad Marchand came around the goal and took a shot. Luongo saved it, but...

He couldn't hold on to the puck, and Marchand scored! Vancouver was down 2-0 and the crowd was out of the game.

They were about to get more out of the game.

Vancouver had a power play and they were looking to make it a 2-1 game, but the goal went the other way around. Patrice Bergeron stole the puck from the Canucks, and even though he slipped, and knocked the puck in with his hand, the goal counted and Boston led, 3-0.

The Canucks were out of the game, and even though they got some good chances, their fans were out of the game, and Brad Marchand's empty-net goal sealed that.

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup!