Roberto Luongo full of hot air

Tim Thomas understands what his job is, and it does not involve public-relations work for Roberto Luongo. Of that and not much else we can be sure as the Bruins [team stats] skate into tonight’s potential Stanley Cup elimination game at the Garden. Seldom has so much been made of so little after Luongo simply made clear that he was playing for the right team when he whined Saturday about not having heard Thomas say anything “nice” about his play. Playing goalie for a team that has produced more whine in these

finals than Ernest and Julio Gallo, Luongo’s comments seem right in line with the way the Vancouver Canucks have approached things from the start. They have played and acted (particular emphasis on the word “acted”) as if they are the Montreal Canadians of the west. They’ve taken more dives than Greg Louganis, cried wolf more often than Little Red Riding Hood, and whined louder than a rain-soaked alley cat. Having said all that, they’re also up 3-2 in the series, so they must have done something “nice.” That Thomas, in the opinion of Luongo at least, failed to make due note of that may be true, but don’t the Canucks have their own PR staff? Thomas does a lot of things for hockey, but he’s only paid to do them for the Bruins. If Luongo needs a publicist, he should call George Regan. “I guess I didn’t realize it was my job to pump his tires,” Thomas said yesterday. For a guy who claims not to be paying attention to what’s being said and written, Thomas’ reference was an aptly worded direct response to Luongo’s comments a day earlier when he said, “I have been pumping his tires ever since the series started. I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me. That’s the way it is.” Well, yeah it is. You want your tires pumped, go to First Foreign Auto in Arlington; they’ll do it for free. But if you’re waiting for Tim Thomas [stats] to do it at the same time you’re trying to wrestle the Stanley Cup out of his hands you’re barking up the wrong goaltender. “I mean his whole career has been like that,” Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said of Thomas. “He started over in Europe, then came over here and became a star late in his career. Ever since, he’s been outstanding and proving everybody wrong, so I don’t think that (criticism) is a big deal for him. “I mean he’s been bailing us out every game, making huge saves for us. There is no reason for us to think about whether he did something wrong or right. It’s just something known for him to be great.” Apparently not always, in Luongo’s opinion. After Vancouver’s 1-0 win in Game 5 on Friday night, Luongo claimed he would have made the save Thomas did not on the contest’s only goal. It came off a rebound from the backboards that sent the puck onto the stick of Maxim Lapierre, who dumped it behind Thomas after he’d charged out more from the net than Luongo would have. “It’s not hard (the save) if you’re playing in the paint,” Luongo sniped. “It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen. He might make some saves that I won’t, but in a case like that we want to take advantage of a bounce like that and make sure we’re in a good position to bury those.” As verbal shots go it didn’t exactly rank with Mike Tyson saying after a quick knockout victory, “Lennox Lewis, I’m coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!” Luongo not only left Allah out of the Stanley Cup finals, but Thomas’ children, too. Tire pumping, or lack thereof, is far down the trash-talking food chain. That being said, in hockey there is supposed to be some sort of goalie’s union where nobody says anything disparaging about the other guy because they’re all in the puck-stopping business and it ain’t easy. Thomas noted that while at the same time dismissing Luongo’s comments about his style as something less than paramount on his mind at the moment. “I still think I’m a goaltender on the ‘union’ side,” Thomas said. “I stick with all the other goalies. In being one and knowing what it takes to perform at this level and with this amount of pressure. I understand, to a certain extent, what every other goaltender is going through. I guess that’s that. “I did hear about what he said but I don’t really want to go into that. My focus is on what I can do to help my team win going into Game 6 here. I think we’ve done a good job of focusing on the important things, which is what you can do on the ice. As a player, I think that’s your job.” In other words, Tim Thomas [stats] is not in the tire-pumping business tonight. He’s in the tire-deflating business.

Vancouver’s Stanley Cup fate lies between the pipes

VANCOUVER -- Kevin Bieksa got the primary assist on what to date is the most important goal of the Vancouver Canucks' season, maybe the most important in franchise history.
Of course, that could all change in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday in Boston, but for now Bieksa's bank shot-pass off the end boards early in the third period is the assist everybody is talking about. The puck came out to Maxim Lapierre on the left side of the net and the Canucks' third-line center shot it off

of Tim Thomas and into the net to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead that stood the rest of the way.
Bieksa explained the play that led to a win in Game 5 and his feelings now that Vancouver is 60 minutes away from winning the Stanley Cup. Here is what he had to say:
Q: Is putting the puck off the end boards and getting it to bounce out front the best way to beat Thomas when he comes that far out of his crease?
A: Obviously Burr (Alexandre Burrows) scored the big goal in Game 2 in overtime against him, a pump fake and going around. He's coming out far, so the only way to make him pay is to put pucks off the boards and hope they bounce into the slot.
Q: So, that was a set play or were you trying to shoot it?
A: I'm trying just to put it off the wall and hope it got a bounce. Obviously (I'm) not a geometry whiz, so I'm not sure exactly where but I was hoping it would bounce somewhere in front of the net. It bounced to our stick.
Q: When did you guys start talking about doing that play?
A: I can remember trying it a few times in Boston. We talked about it before the series. We have pretty good scouting crew that did a good job of giving us tips on Thomas. He's a good goalie so you have to find ways to cheat and get little advantages. That was one of them.
Q: What does this feel like, being one win away right now?
A: It feels great. We're trying to stay really focused. We've got one big game left. We'd like to go finish it there -- that'd be a great feeling. We've got two kicks left at it, but obviously we want to go finish it there.
Q: Can you talk about the way Roberto (Luongo) responded tonight after all the criticism he came under?
A: He played an unbelievable game for us, and we expected it out of him. It's no surprise. He's a big-time goalie. He's played on the big stage before and succeeded. You can't really blame him for what happened in Boston. It was the whole team that letdown in Boston. You saw the whole team regroup and come back and play strong. He led the charge.
Q: How about the success of your penalty kill tonight, the difference it made early?
A: The penalty kill was strong. The penalty kill was good in Game 4 too. That was one of the bright spots for us. We were good and we continued that tonight. We pressured them a lot and made them work for their chances. I can't remember a whole lot of great looks that they got."

Bruins reach Stanley Cup finals, top Lightning 1-0

Vezina Trophy finalist Tim Thomas stopped every shot and gave the Boston Bruins a chance for the biggest prize of all -- the Stanley Cup. Forget their 20-year absence from the finals. Don't talk about their epic playoff collapse of last season. And certainly don't mention their powerless power play. None of that matters after the Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 on Friday night on Nathan Horton's goal with 7:33 left in the penalty-free Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"I'm just happy to see those guys smiling in the dressing room," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Right now we're four wins from winning the Stanley Cup." The Bruins will open the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver against the Western Conference champion Canucks on Wednesday. Boston won its most recent championship in 1972 and hadn't reached the finals since 1990, when it lost to the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins left far behind the specter of last year's playoff failure. They blew a 3-0 lead in games and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, losing 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. "From the beginning of the season, we knew we had some unfinished business," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "Guys were hungry throughout the playoffs." This season, they squandered 3-2 series leads in the first round against Montreal and then against Tampa Bay. But they beat the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime in Game 7, with Horton scoring the winning goal. Then the forward, playing in the postseason for the first time in his career after five seasons with the Florida Panthers, came through again with his eighth playoff goal. "He certainly has played like a big-game player," Julien said. So has Thomas -- all season. The 37-year-old goalie led the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage after missing all of last year's playoffs because of a hip injury. After offseason surgery, he was as good as ever, and that includes the 2008-09 season when he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie. "I think a lot of people thought I was over the hill," Thomas said. "I knew it wasn't true. I put in a lot of work over the summer and I've had an unbelievable year. I've been blessed." He made 24 saves in his third career playoff shutout and second of the Lightning series. Horton's goal spoiled an outstanding game by Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson, who stopped 37 shots. Thomas' playoff performance is even more remarkable because the Bruins scored just five goals on 61 power plays in the postseason. But there were no power plays for either side on Friday night in the clean, hard-hitting game. "There wasn't anything out there to call," Roloson said. "Give the referees credit. for not disrupting the flow of the game." Horton beat Roloson by deflecting a pass from left to right across the slot from David Krejci. "It is hard to explain how good this feeling is," Horton said. His goal set off a loud celebration among Bruins fans, who have waited a long time for a trip to the finals. With 3 seconds left and the puck in the Lightning zone, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron raised his stick while standing in the "spoked B" logo symbolizing the Bruins at center ice. And when the game ended, Thomas raised both arms and arched his back against the net that the Lightning never reached in the decisive game as yellow and black towels given to fans fluttered to the ice. "It's great to be a part of something amazing. That was the highest level of concentration I have experienced," Bergeron said. "I couldn't wait to jump on Timmy and enjoy the moment." The Bruins improved to 2-3 in Game 7s under Julien but have won the last two. They're 11-10 overall in Game 7s. Andrew Ference started the only scoring play on the left side behind the red line with a pass to Krejci, also on the left. Horton was on the same side, but when Krejci got the puck, Horton veered to the right. Krejci skated in and threaded a pass to Horton, who put the puck in the open side between Roloson and the left post. "I don't think he could have stopped that puck and I don't think he could have done better than he did tonight," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "It's hard to look at. One little defensive mistake." And the Bruins weren't about to squander this lead. "Once they went up 1-0, they really came back (on defense) with five guys and it was tough to get anything," said Vincent Lecavalier, who had 6 goals and 13 assists in the playoffs. "We got a few shots, but it was tough to get the rebounds." Roloson fell to 7-1 in elimination games during his career, including 4-1 this postseason. Tampa Bay rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Pittsburgh in the first round, with Roloson shutting out the Penguins 1-0 in Game 7 on the road. But after beating the Bruins in Game 6 to force one more contest, the Lightning's comeback fortunes changed. "They have guys that can put the puck in the net and defend," Boucher said. "Obviously, they've got it all." Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos was struck in the face by a puck early in the second period and briefly left the game. He was hit on the left side of the head off a hard shot from the right point by Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk and he immediately dropped to the ice. There was some blood on the ice when the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008 got up and skated quickly to his bench, holding his face. He missed about five minutes of game time, then returned with a full cage face shield in place of the visor he had been wearing. Boston's Milan Lucic had the best scoring opportunity in the first when Krejci fed him for a breakaway. But Lucic shot the puck into Roloson with just under five minutes left. The Bruins also had solid chances late in the second. Roloson made a pad save on Mark Recchi's shot from a few feet away then made another when Recchi shot the rebound with just under 2 1/2 minutes left in the period. "This is a great moment. (It's) been a long time for Boston. How long has it been actually?" Thomas said, "also a long journey for me to get here. Can't be too happy too long, though, unless you are the last man standing." Notes: Tampa Bay's Sean Bergenheim, third in the playoffs with nine goals after scoring just 14 in the regular season, missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury that also kept him out of the last two periods of Game 5. ... The 41-year-old Roloson played in his 50th postseason game. Thomas appeared in his 36th. ... The date of the game, May 27, is the latest the Bruins have played in club history. ... The Lightning have three players remaining from their 2004 championship team -- Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina, who missed the last 10 games with an upper body injury. ... Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling attended the game wearing a Bruins jersey.