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."

Conn Smythe Trophy watch: Leading candidates after Game 2

In some ways, the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks’ most prominent Conn Smythe Trophy candidates probably haven’t changed much since we last took a look in mid-May. Yet with the field of teams down to two and Vancouver’s first two home games in the books, we can take a deeper look at which Canucks and Bruins players have the best chance to win the playoff MVP award. We’ll start with the Canucks since they’re up 2-0 in the series. Vancouver Canucks Frontrunner: Ryan Kesler –

One thing I think many potential voters overlook is the benefits Kesler receives from a matchup standpoint. He often draws easier opportunities to score since the Shea Weber and Zdeno Chara-type defensemen are usually sent at the Sedin twins. Let’s not forget that the Sedins took over the third period of Game 2 and weren’t much less dominant against the San Jose Sharks than Kesler was versus the Nashville Predators. Of course, the converse side of getting better chances to score is that he also often faces much more difficult defensive assignments than the Sedin twins. Kesler does a little of everything from scoring (19 points in 20 games), winning faceoffs (54.6 to Henrik Sedin‘s weak 45.6 percent) and killing penalties (he’s averaging 3:04 minutes of shorthanded per game, first among Vancouver forwards and second overall). He’s the do-everything forward for the Canucks and while many knew he was an impact player already, the 2011 playoffs have been a star-making experience for the American two-way forward. His big goals and assists late in many games make him a no-brainer No. 1 candidate … for now. Strong candidate 1: Roberto Luongo – For all the abuse he took in the first round, he’s been a huge difference maker in the playoffs. Despite a great performance by Tim Thomas in Game 1, Luongo stopped all 36 shots for a 1-0 shutout. He made 28 out of 30 saves to turn Boston away in Game 2 and really hasn’t had many low moments since struggling against the Chicago Blackhawks. Whether it’s skin-tight games against the Predators/Bruins or more wide-open affairs versus the Sharks and Blackhawks, he’s been the better goalie more often than not. Overall, his numbers are fantastic, with 14-6 record, .928 save percentage and 2.16 GAA. Strong candidate(s) 2 and 3: The Sedin twins – Henrik Sedin has a league-leading 21 points and Daniel Sedin has 18 himself. Kesler is the obvious frontrunner right now, but if Henrik or Daniel put together a couple more multiple point explosions like they did at times in the Sharks series, you just never know. Dark horse: Alex Burrows – The noted vegetarian might not be as steady of a threat as the other three forwards, but he’s made some huge plays in the postseason. Obviously, those two big OT goals would be the video clips of note, but he has 17 points in 20 games overall. Boston Bruins Frontrunner: Tim Thomas – The gulf between Thomas and any other Bruins contributor – even Zdeno Chara – seems pretty huge if you ask me. Thomas hasn’t always been pretty (and allowed a few bad goals, most notably that Game 2 OT tally), but the sum of his work has been astounding. If the Bruins get back into this series, it’ll probably take an astounding set of performances by Thomas, which would make his chances that much stronger. It’s been a great run either way, considering that fact that he has a .93 save percentage in the postseason, with a nice 2.27 GAA. Strong candidate: Zdeno Chara – It’s been an up-and-down playoffs at times for the Bruins big defenseman, but he’s done everything for Boston. He plays huge minutes (28:17 per game), shows a willingness to comply with wacky power play experiments and has more better days than bad ones amid a very suspect Bruins defense. Dark horse: David Krejci – The most underrated part of the Bruins’ team is their impressive top line, powered most by Krejci. He has 18 points in 20 games, including 10 goals (four game-winners). If Dan Hamhuis can’t play again, his line could create enough opportunities to turn this series around. An explosive finals round could give Krejci a solid chance to win the Smythe. *** With 2-5 games remaining, there’s still plenty of time for these (and other) players to improve their argument for one of the best trophies in hockey. Who’s your frontrunner so far?

Preds find a way, Canucks can't close

For the third year in a row, the Canucks followed up a Game 1 win in the second round by coming up short in Game 2 -- but this one had to hurt more than the losses to Chicago in each of the last two years. This time, they were actually just 67 seconds away from a 2-0 series lead, only to have Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter get the tying goal and Matt Halischuk scored the winner 14:51 into the second OT for a 2-1 win.

The Canucks nearly won Saturday's game despite being outshot 36-15 in regulation – then got 18 shots in less than two periods of overtime but couldn't get one Pekka Rinne.

"He was definitely their best player," said defenseman Kevin Bieksa, the victim of Rinne's best OT save. We had plenty of chances to win it in overtime and plenty of chances to go up 2-0, and he stood on his head."

Asked how he refocused for OT after seeing so few shots through 60 minutes, Rinne said simply, "you have no choice."

"It's sudden death and you try to be ready for every single situation, every single shot," he added. "It was easy to stay focused, especially in overtime, it seemed like they were shooting more, and it's always fun when that happens."

Rinne wasn't making life fun for Vancouver's shooters in OT. No doubt Bieksa left Rogers Arena wondering what happened to his game-winning goal.

Daniel Sedin put a perfect pass onto Bieksa's stick as he came in backdoor late in the first overtime. Bieksa one-timed it perfectly and was ready to celebrate – only to see the puck disappear into Rinne, who dived across to stop the shot and smother the rebound.

"Obviously, I was a little bit fortunate," Rinne said. "Sedin made a nice pass to Bieksa and I was able to get my blocker and my stick over there."

With only two goals in two games, and just 18 in nine playoff games, the Canucks need to start finding the back of the net -- quickly.

"You want to score more goals, that's the bottom line," said Henrik Sedin, who had one shot in 31:25 of ice time. "We have to bear down on the chances we get, in overtime too we had a lot of chances to finish it off. That's something we need to take a look at."

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said his team needs more from the Sedins.

"They're our top players and obviously we need them to perform like top players," he said. "I know they're working real hard, sometimes you've got to give the opposition some credit."

The Predators got a break on the tying goal – Suter's passout from the end boards hit goalie Roberto Luongo's skate and went into the net. But Nashville looked much more like the team that beat Anaheim in the first round, rather than the one that was dominated for almost all of Game 1.

"Obviously they were disappointed about their first game. We knew they were going to come out hard," Vigneault said. "At the end of the day though, I'm more disappointed about how we played. Obviously I'm giving them credit, but I know we can play better than we did tonight."

With the series now headed to Nashville for Games 3 and 4, the Canucks had better step up their game. With the Predators in the second round for the first time in franchise history, Bridgestone Arena will be rocking like never before on Tuesday night – especially after the Preds' got a split in Vancouver.

"We can build off of that goal in overtime, go home and use our crowd," captain Shea Weber said. "That's a very good team over there and it's not going to be a short series by any means. It's going to be a marathon, not a sprint."

Halischuk, who was playing in just his eighth NHL playoff game, knows the importance of the Game 2 win.

"Game 1 was a wakeup call, we came out hard today and had a good 60 minutes to get us to overtime and just kind of went from there," he said. "I think we'll try to take the momentum back home, for sure."

Vigneault shocks hockey world by starting Schneider

CHICAGO – Alain Vigneault thought some things needed to change for his Vancouver Canucks after they'd been blown out by the Chicago Blackhawks in two straight playoff games.

So, he practically changed everything before Sunday night's Game 6 of this Western Conference Quarterfinal series at the United Center, which the Hawks wound up winning 4-3 in overtime.

Vigneault had his team warm up with tennis balls instead of pucks at Saturday's off-day practice. He wore blue jeans to the press conference that day – and shorts to a media session on Sunday morning. The buttoned-down Canucks even went helmetless in the pre-game warm-ups at the United Center.

It was the first Canuck to take the ice for warm-ups, however, that caused the biggest stir – and was the biggest change Vigneault debated in his head on the flight from Vancouver following a 5-0 loss in Game 5 at Rogers Arena.

Backup goalie Cory Schneider started instead of star Roberto Luongo – who'd been shelled by Chicago in both of the losses – and it took pretty much everybody by surprise. Vigneault, however, stuck strongly by his decision after the game.

"Sometimes you've just gotta go with your gut," he said. "Sometimes the book is overrated and the gut told me it was the right thing to do."

Vigneault informed both goalies of his decision on Saturday afternoon, so it wasn't a surprise to them or their teammates – but just about everybody else watching was stunned, including the Blackhawks.

"Coming out for warm-ups, we were surprised," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville admitted afterward. "We thought it would be Luongo."

Instead it was Schneider, who made 17 saves against 20 shots played decently until leaving the game early in the third because of what the team is calling muscle cramps in his leg. Schneider had just been beaten on a penalty shot by Michael Frolik at the 2:31 mark of the third to tie knot the game 3-3 when Luongo was summoned for relief duty.

"It just cramped up really bad," he said of his leg, which he appeared to struggle putting weight on leaving the ice. "The whole leg just completely seized up."

Luongo, who said there wasn't room on the bench for him, was watching on television in the locker room. After an athletic trainer told him to get loose, he stretched and did "a couple jumping jacks" and headed for the ice – to a stadium full of jeering fans chanting "Lou!"

Thanks to some stellar play by the team in front of him, Luongo only had to make two saves in the 17:29 that remained of the third period, which he was thankful for.

"Once I got in there, I thought the boys really tightened up defensively and didn't give up much the rest of the period," Luongo said. "It gave me a chance to get into the game."

He got through most of the overtime, as well – making several key stops to allow the Canucks to keep attacking at the other end. The only problem was Hawks rookie Corey Crawford – whom Luongo has skated with in summers past – was just as good at the other end.

Ultimately, Smith potted a rebound of a shot by Niklas Hjalmarsson with just 4:30 left in OT and surely broke the hearts of Canucks fans. It didn't break the spirit of Luongo – who fielded a lot of questions afterward as calm as if he'd won.

Was he shaken by Vigneault's decision?

"No, why would I be?" he said.

How disappointed was he when informed he wouldn't start?

"You know what? It's a team game,' Luongo said. "We had the best goaltending duo all year long. I put the team ahead of myself first. I wanted to win this game just as much as anyone."

Did he understand Vigneault's logic in going to Schneider, after Luongo had allowed 10 goals on 40 shots in Game 4 and Game 5 combined?

"That's up to the coaching staff," Luongo said. "As a professional athlete, you're dealt all kinds of situations in your career and you learn to deal with them."

How about Game 7? Will he be as team-oriented and understanding if Schneider gets the call again?

"Me and Schneids are the best goaltending duo in the NHL this year,” Luongo said. "He's just as good as I am and it doesn't matter who's in net."

No sense in asking Vigneault, either. He's not sharing anything about his decision on goalie for Game 7 and said it'd probably be pointless if he revealed anything anyway.

"If I tell you who I'm going to play, are you going to believe me now?" he said, drawing laughter.

As for Schneider's health, Vigneault was insistent it was just a bad cramp. He said Schneider was dehydrated, got an IV in the training room and felt OK after the game. That means he might have another tough decision to make on the flight back home.

For what it's worth, Luongo said he's ready for the pressure of a series-deciding game.

"I've played in a Game 7 before," he said. "I've seen a lot, but obviously it's a big one. No doubt about that. It's a great challenge for us. We've got to take advantage of it and also enjoy it. It’s fun to be part of a Game 7."