In high-stakes finale, Bruins were all in

June 17, 2011|By Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

Before the Bruins hoisted the Stanley Cup, Patrice Bergeron gets a congratulatory… (Jim Davis/Globe Staff )

On June 6, the Everest-high Canucks strutted into TD Garden, eager to grab a 3-0 series lead and move a step closer to lifting the Stanley Cup.

That day, the Bruins decided that wasn’t going to happen. They would be the ones to claim the Cup.

At 5:07 of the first period of Game 3, Nathan Horton looked to his left, passed the puck to Milan Lucic, and approached the blue line. Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome closed the gap and buried his shoulder into the Boston right wing.

Horton never saw Rome coming. Horton didn’t play again after the hit. His teammates, however, resolved that his absence wouldn’t torpedo their season. Instead, it would have the opposite effect.

“They really rallied around that,’’ said general manager Peter Chiarelli. “Horts had a terrific playoffs, too. He’s such a valuable contributor to the team.

“These guys, they can rally around anything. That probably was the turning point. But that’s the magic of this bunch. The core remained the same from last year. The year ended the way it did. They built on it.’’

That same day, the Bruins made what appeared to be a subtle lineup tweak. It turned out to resonate like a thunderclap.

Shawn Thornton had won a Cup in Anaheim. Since he signed with the Bruins on July 1, 2007, he has been a go-to player on the fourth line. The fact that Chiarelli landed the tough guy as soon as free agency opened that year indicates how highly he is regarded.

But in the playoffs, not everybody dresses. In the Eastern Conference finals, while Patrice Bergeron recovered from his third career concussion, Thornton skated on the fourth line for the first two games against Tampa Bay.

By Game 3, Bergeron was ready to play again.

One game earlier, Tyler Seguin had had the night of his life, recording 4 points in one period. So Thornton was the odd man out. And not just for Game 3. He was in suit and tie for the next seven games, including the losses in Games 1 and 2 of the Final.

The Bruins didn’t drop those games at Rogers Arena solely because of Thornton’s absence. They displayed shortcomings that filled coach Claude Julien’s notebook. They handled the puck as if it were toxic. They didn’t drive pucks deep into Vancouver’s zone. They didn’t generate enough speed in center ice to beat the Canucks to the puck. They never got their forecheck clicking.

So it was little surprise that the Bruins were blanked in Game 1, 1-0. And given how poorly they managed the puck in Game 2, it was no shock that Alex Edler picked off an Andrew Ference neutral-zone bank pass to spring Alex Burrows for the winning goal just 11 seconds into overtime.

So before Game 3, Julien and his staff agreed on a change that helped swing the series back in the Bruins’ favor. Seguin was out. Thornton was in.