I have stated that I am firmly in the bag for Boston.  I want them to win, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Does that make me biased?  Sure, why not.  We’re all biased in one way or another.  But what a game for both teams.  You don’t get that kind of performance out of two crappy teams.

The problem with working a theater job is that you are often working when people want to be entertained.  That’s happens to be the same time that hockey games usually are played.  So tonight, while at work, I was keeping an eye on the NHL GameCenter app my iPad for game updates.  This is how I watched the first two periods.

Not exactly the most insightful, so I thank all of you who updated on twitter as well.  It allowed for more detail that the above graphic.  I did get to watch the third period live, so here is what I saw.

– The battles along the boards were great.  I felt like this defined the third period more than the play along the center.

– The Bruins were running around at times, in a way that  looked like the San Jose Sharks.  I do not mean that as a compliment.  The Bruins were able to settle down after a bit, but if there’s a dangerous time for the Bruins, it’s when they start running around, chasing the play.

– That said, the Bruins also had a few moments where they looked more like the Red Wings, making short, quick passes that spread out the Canucks forwards when they were in their own zone.  That didn’t seem the be the plan when they were in the neutral zone, but that could also be that the Canucks had better coverage.  I saw the Canucks collapse around the Bruins forward crossing the blue line with the puck.  Hit the line with a few more forwards, and let’s see what happens.

– After all the penalties in the first two periods, a no-hitter in the 3rd isn’t that unusual.  But boy is it frustrating sometimes.

– The game winning goal:

Raffi Torres made the expected play, and did it well.  Hanson made a good pass that Chara couldn’t cut off (and if he had, we would have seen overtime).  But Ryan Kesler made that goal happen.  If you watch Versus, you don’t get to see how important the secondary assist can be.  But as Kesler skated into the zone, he could have been offside.  If your skate is above the blue line when you skate into the zone, and not on the ice making physical contact with the blue line, you’re offside.  Kesler was smart, keeping his skate down.  Not what you want to do when you possible have a groin injury, but that’s how you win a hockey game.  Being smart.

I did get to watch highlights on the NHL Network, so….:

– Alain Vigneault said Hamhuis’s injury is a mid-body injury, after being challenged for an answer he wasn’t going to give.  Yes, he said it with a tongue firmly planted in his cheek.  It was pretty funny.

– Claude Julien called the biting of Patrice Bergeron a “classless” move.  Classless gets thrown around a lot in hockey, probably too much.  It’s not a shocking statement these days, and usually ends up being nothing more than spilled ink on newsprint.  It’s becoming a term that doesn’t hold much weight anymore.  That said, you don’t bite people.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/tapeleg/status/76137506734735360″]

– Someone behind the NHL Network desk in Vancouver has a cutout of Oprah Winfrey with a Canucks jersey on.  I think that’s supposed to get someone’s blood boiling.  Whoever would get mad at something like that, stay away from me.

– Nice hair, Turco.

OK, that’s it for me for now.  This isn’t going to be as easy a series as everyone thinks.  If there is an underrated team here, it’s the Bruins.  Don’t count them out.  After all the celebrating, I don’t think Canucks fans will be.

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This is day two of the Stanley Cup Finals Dead Blog Challenge.  It’s not too late to join in.  Just start writing.  Details are here.

Along with the challenge, I’m posting things to help or inspire you to write.  Because I sure need it sometimes, and I know other people do as well.  Today, it’s a short but powerful tip from Justin Tadlock.  Click to find out what it is.  Part two is also worth your time.  The link to that is under the first tip.  Make with the clicky.

(quick grammar note: “Hamhuis’s” looks pretty weird up there, eh? But according to Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, that’s what it’s supposed to look like. I’m going with it)