Kesler outmuscled Johnny Boychuk and decided he was going to will his team to victory in the final seconds of a game that could have gone either way. It left the Canucks with a one-game lead in the best-of-seven series, and it left the Bruins deflated after giving an all-out, intense effort for 60 minutes on the road.
It also left them with two days to regroup.
Some have speculated that losing a game in such crushing fashion will affect the Bruins' collective psyche, that they'll be too emotionally drained to put forth a similar effort in Game 2. Those people probably haven't watched much of the Bruins this year.
Mentally, they'll be fine, and if anything, they'll feel good, knowing that they can hang with the heavily favored Canucks. That's how this team operates. They talk about things they did well, even after losses, and they know how to quickly move past emotional games.
In terms of X's and O's, though, they have some work to do.
It starts in the offensive end, where the Bruins need to get a bit more creative. Boston did get 36 shots on Roberto Luongo, but the number of quality shots was much lower than that. The Bruins struggled to get long shots from the point on net, as Vancouver seemed to plant four of five bodies in front of the net — a technique similar to the one the Canadiens used whenever they took a lead in the first-round series against Boston. In that series, the Bruins found ways to score, and they'll need to do so again to vary the types of shots Luongo sees.
Luongo had been the subject of infinite questions heading into the series, as his ability to step up in big games has always been the knock on him. A 36-save shutout in the biggest NHL game of his life might help to silence them … but a poor follow-up performance in Game 2 would bring them right back to the forefront. Luongo was good, no doubt, in Game 1, but the Bruins didn't challenge him to be spectacular. Again, it's reminiscent of the first two games of the Montreal series, when the Bruins seemed to be aiming for the "H" on the chest of Carey Price's sweater. It wasn't quite the same this time around, but the Bruins need to test him. A quick goal or two in the next game would go a long way in chipping away at the confidence built up over 60 minutes on Wednesday night.
Still, the B's weren't without their chances. Luongo let up several meaty rebounds, but there were no Bruins sticks to poke them home. The power play, while unable to score, looked much, much more like the power-play unit of a professional hockey team, and the penalty kill was outstanding, shutting down the league's best power play. There were several cross-ice passes, too, that didn't quite connect, including a beauty from Tyler Seguin that popped over a stick blade. Another went to David Krejci in the crease, but Luongo was just able to steer the puck to safety. Yet another sat idly on the blade of Mark Recchi for 2 seconds too long, allowing Luongo to plant himself in front of the veteran for an easy stop.
Recchi had been falling off the charts a bit in the Lightning series, and it was believed that five days of rest would have him back to his usual self in this series. That simply was not the case, though, as Recchi couldn't generate much in his 15:18 on the ice, which included 3:34 on the power play (some of which was during an extended 5-on-3, as well).
Over the past two-plus seasons, Recchi has been at his absolute best when he plants himself in front of the net, absorbs the punishment that comes with it and wreaks havoc for opposing defensemen and goalies. Whether it's age, fatigue, an unknown injury or any combination of the three, Recchi no longer appears capable of filling that role, and he may see a dip in ice time going forward, similar to what he saw in Game 7 against Tampa Bay.
On the other end of the ice, the Bruins may actually need Tim Thomas to play as ridiculously as he did in Game 1. Many folks in Boston were disappointed that such a brilliant performance was wasted in a loss, but if there's anything to help soften that blow, it's that without Thomas, it might have been a 6-0 blowout. The fact that Thomas was able to keep the Bruins in a tight game throughout the entire night will help maintain a healthy level of confidence in the Bruins' dressing room over the next 56 or so hours.
Both teams also have to hope for some better officiating. Stephan Walkom and Dan O'Rourke were a bit of a mess, with an odd four-minute minor call on Daniel Sedin, a questionable cross-checking call on Krejci (as a shaken-up Dan Hamhuis appeared to be falling to the ice on his own), an unnecesary kneeing penalty on Dennis Seidenberg, a non-call after a textbook flop by Henrik Sedin and a missed diving penalty on Thomas, to name a few. Walkom and O'Rourke didn't see Raffi Torres get in a clean jab on the face of Chris Kelly, either. The Bruins are at a disadvantage when men on either side are going to the box, so a more cleanly officiated game — which you'd have to expect coming in Game 2 to keep with the league's policy of inconsistency — will benefit the Bruins in future games.
The Canucks may also be down a pair of men, as well, as Hamhuis was all sorts of dazed after throwing himself in front of Milan Lucic for a truly fantastic hip check in front of the Boston bench. Hamhuis suffered a concussion in late March, and he did not return to the game on Wednesday. It'll take a lot for a player of Hamhuis' stature to sit out of a Stanley Cup Final game, but with the increased sensitivity to concussions in the NHL, the Canucks — and Hamhuis — won't take any chances.
Vancouver may also be without top-line winger Alex Burrows, who thought it was a good idea to bite down on an opponent's finger during the Stanley Cup. He didn't think there might be a camera or two focused on him on hockey's biggest stage? As a result, Burrows may go in the history books as the first player to be suspended by Brendan Shanahan, as biting is a no-no in hockey (as well as just about any area of life).
As has been stated time and time again by now, the historical numbers do not favor the Bruins. Teams that win Game 1 of the Cup final go on to win the series 77 percent of the time. But just last month, the Bruins had never come back from a 2-0 deficit to win. That didn't stop them from topping the Canadiens in seven. The Bruins looked overmatched in Game 1 against the Lightning, a 5-2 thrashing at the TD Garden. They responded rather quickly with a 6-5 win in Game 2 and a nearly perfect 2-0 win in Game 3.
The Bruins suffered a painful defeat in Game 1, but it wasn't devastating. History may not be on their side, but the events of the past month or two certainly give them more than enough reason to believe they can hang with the Canucks for as long as this series takes.
