2011 Stanley Cup Finals: Why the Canucks Can Win in Boston

The Vancouver Canucks were simply a better team than the Boston Bruins through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

It wasn't by a large margin, but the President's Trophy winning Canucks were good enough to grind out a pair of close wins to lead the Stanley Cup Finals, 2-0.

Are they good enough to win in Boston during Games 3 and 4? 

Yes.

There are simply too many trends that the Bruins need to reverse in order to earn a win.

Through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Canucks have out-shot the Bruins 67 to 66

But in the all important third period, the Canucks have out shot the Bruins 25 to 15.

In the third period and overtime, when the game was on the line, the Canucks have scored three goals. The Bruins, none. 

Five-on-five play was supposed to be a strength of the Bruins, something that would allow them to beat Vancouver's league leading power play. 

So far, the Bruins have a single even strength goal. The Canucks have three.

Both goalies are playing incredible, which is fitting as both are Vezina Trophy-nominees.

Tim Thomas has a 0.940 save percentage in the finals, with a 2.00 GAA.

Roberto Luongo has a 0.970 save percentage, with a 1.00 GAA, plus a shutout in Game 1.

I think anyone watching the games would agree that Thomas has had to make the better saves. 

This isn't to denigrate the contribution of Luongo, but Thomas has had to be both lucky and good to keep the Bruins in the game. Luongo has simply had to be good.

The big bad Bruins were supposed to run the Canucks out of the rink in the Stanley Cup Finals. Or at least that was the prediction by eastern media and fans that hadn't watched the Canucks play any games this spring.

You can ask the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, and they'd all agree. The Canucks, however unexpectedly, are the most physical team in the playoffs.

So far through the first two games, the Bruins have been outhit 70 to 62. 

This isn't a huge difference, but the fact that the Canucks are edging them out in hits just further illustrates that the one vaunted Bruins advantage, their big tough forwards, isn't such an advantage after all.

Every advantage the Bruins supposedly had going into the finals, from scoring to goaltending to toughness, has been negated by the Canucks so far.

Can Boston reverse this trend at home?

Maybe, but I wouldn't want to bet on it. 

My prediction is that the Canucks and Bruins will split Games 3 and 4.