2011 Stanley Cup Finals: The Series Is Roberto Luongo's to Win or Lose

The Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins have the two best goaltenders in the NHL, both of them are 2011 Vezina Trophy nominees and both kept their team in Game 1 last night at Rogers Arena. 

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and Bruins goalie Tim Thomas stopped a combined 69 of 70 shots in Game 1. 

After the game Luongo acknowledged he was in for a goaltending battle from the start, according to an interview provided by the NHL. 

“Probably the drop of the puck in the first period,” Luongo said smiling when asked at what point he felt he was in a goalie battle. 

“I mean, right away, Timmy made a few big saves in the first few minutes.” 

“Then they got their powerplay. I was feeling pretty good.  As the game was moving along, obviously there wasn't a lot of room.  But when saves needed to be made, we were both making them.” 

It took a little over 59 minutes to see the series’ first goal. Canucks forward Raffi Torres slid a puck past Thomas off of a pass from Jannick Hansen with 19 seconds left in the third period. 

Luongo spoke about Torres’ goal after the game in the same interview. 

“I mean, it was huge. It was just as exciting as an overtime goal. There was not a lot of room on the ice, as we saw. At one point I thought we might be playing all night here.” 

“Just real exciting, especially for a guy like Torres to get a goal like that. He does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed. But it's nice to see a guy like that get rewarded.” 

Torres’ goal was the latest winner in a Stanley Cup Final since Mario Lemieux scored with 13 seconds remaining in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals against Minnesota for a 5-4 win. 

The goal by Torres was the difference in the game, but the real hero for Vancouver was Luongo. 

Luongo stopped all 36 shots he faced, including many saves on the Bruins six powerplays, many of which involved the 6’9” tall Bruins captain Zdeno Chara screening him at the crease. 

The shutout for Luongo in Game 1 was the first shutout to open the Finals since 1984, when Grant Fuhr of the Edmonton Oilers shut down the New York Islanders. 

Luongo has often been criticized for his less than stellar play in important playoff games, but since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he won the gold medal for Canada, he has begun to silence his critics. 

Coming into the series, Luongo was the key for Vancouver. Despite their great offensive talent, it is Luongo who will have to shine for a team with little Cup Finals experience to win the sport’s ultimate prize. 

With Luongo giving Vancouver the early upper hand, 77 percent of teams who win Game 1 of the Finals go on to win the series, the Canucks can relax a bit going into Game 2 on Saturday. 

When asked about the goaltending he expected in this series, Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said the following in an interview provided by the league. 

“Well, we got two of the best goaltenders in the League battling out. So obviously scoring is going to be a challenge for both teams.” 

Offense will be a challenge for both teams in this series with two defensively strong squads battling elite goaltenders. 

The team who will lift the Stanley Cup will be the team whose goalie dominates the series.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist, follow him on Twitter for Bruins news and analysis.