The Boston Bruins Must Exploit Roberto Luongo's Weakness to Take the Stanley Cup

Everybody saw this coming, right?

It was like Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS with Dave Roberts on first base. The whole world—the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the play-by-play announcers, everybody at Yankee Stadium and the millions watching from home – knew Roberts was going to attempt to steal second.

In Boston last night, before the puck was even dropped, everybody knew that the Bruins were not going to allow the Stanley Cup to be hoisted by the Vancouver Canucks in their Boston Garden.

In many ways, they knew not only the outcome, but the way that it would come about, with Boston scoring a gazillion goals, Luongo being yanked early, and the Bruins playing extremely organized hockey.

Four goals in 4:14 of the opening period—the fastest four goals by a single team in Stanley Cup Final history—confirmed it. If there were a mechanism in place for conceding, the Canucks might have made the call and gone back to their hotels. Maybe not. They’re nothing, if not admirably stubborn, these Canucks.

Oddly enough, the difference in each of the six games thus far, does not appear to be about the game of hockey. Both goalies have performed admirably on their home ice, and Thomas has done so in Vancouver. Both teams have executed successful game plans, combining offensive aggression with defensive common sense.

If it is about hockey, it is most assuredly about the games in Vancouver, in which the two teams have struggled mightily to score at all; Game 2’s 3-2 result notwithstanding.

Say what you will about non-hockey intangibles like a hometown crowd, the jitters of a visiting team, or the existence of sheer luck, good or bad. They appear to be the only identifiable difference in this series, which, unfortunately, makes Wednesday night’s game something of a coin toss.

There’s something annoying about a playoff series (any sport, actually) in which the home team wins without ever having stepped up in enemy territory; a concession to the intangibles, which makes the whole thing seem kind of random. What’s the point of rooting for a team that can’t win a game off their home ice (or field)?

If there’s a bright spot for the Bruins, it’s the striking difference in the way that they’ve dominated their Garden parties. In Vancouver, it seems as though the Canucks don’t win, as much as they avoid defeat.

Both teams played well enough to win, albeit a little tentatively, in the opener, and if anyone actually won that game, it was the clock, which left the Bruins with 11 seconds to respond. Same with Game 2. Tied at the end of regulation, the Canucks score a goal in the opening seconds of overtime, and again, it’s the clock, which in game two didn’t just run out afterwards, it stopped completely.

The Bruins come back to Boston and it’s not a pair of nail-biters they win, but two routs that send Luongo packing. Vancouver is not just beaten in Boston, they’re embarrassed, and macho posturing aside, just a little scared as they head back to Vancouver for Game 5.

So what happens? Nail-biting hockey again, with Tim Thomas actually scoring the only goal against himself (if you remember, the puck hit him in the chest, and rolled off of him into the goal), and adding insult to injury, it comes off the stick of someone who’d only scored six goals all season.

Back to Boston again, and the winning goal is scored within six minutes of the start, off the stick of Brad Marchand, who set a Bruins record for playoff goals by a rookie (9). There have only been three rookies who scored more than that in the history of the league – Dino Ciccarelli (14), Jeremy Roenick (11) and Claude Lemieux (10). Good company.

All six of the games have been won by the home team, but it is patently clear that Boston is the better of the two in those situations. Now, they have to find a way to bring that energy to Vancouver, and they will be ably assisted by what appears to be a major chink in the hometown armor of Luongo; his tendency to get a little rattled in unfamiliar territory. Once he’s let a first goal get by him, he’s vulnerable to the next one, and the next, and the next one after that.

He may be back on home ice, but he’s never played in a deciding Stanley Cup Final game before, and if a little thing like a boisterous, non-supportive crowd can get under his skin, it’s reasonable to assume that the pressure cooker of this final game is going to impact his psyche, as well.

It has proved to be his downfall in Boston.

That said, playing to that weakness will be important to the Boston Bruins. If they score early, and I’m guessing that Bruins’ coach Claude Julien has and will again, make this point to his team, then they will have a leg up throughout the game.

Thus, it comes down to a non-hockey intangible; the vulnerable psyche of the hometown’s goalie.

Luongo doesn’t have to worry about Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand or Mark Recchi. He has to worry about himself. A scoreless opening period, or one in which a teammate gets one by Thomas will almost certainly be to his advantage. A goal scored against him in the opening frame will work against him, and one scored within five minutes of the start will almost certainly unravel him.

Take heed, Bruins.

Bring that Cup back to Boston, will you? Bobby Orr will meet you at the airport.