
The Boston Bruins have beaten the Vancouver Canucks in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, marking their first NHL championship since 1972. In a series that saw the home team win each of the first six games, the Boston Bruins snapped that trend when they shut out the Canucks 4-0 on their home ice. Roberto Luongo is going to catch a lot of heat for his performance throughout the finals. His problem was inconsistency, because although he had two 1-0 victories, Luongo again failed to match Thomas' brilliance, giving up 18 goals in the last five games of the finals. Although Vancouver was the Stanley Cup picks favorite and the team that had home ice, which at one point seemed like it would be the deciding factor, the Bruins dug deep and brought the cup back to Boston.
Thomas made 37 saves in the second shutout of his landmark finals performance, Patrice Bergeron and rookie Brad Marchand scored two goals apiece. Thomas was named the MVP of the Finals, receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy. Bergeron scored the eventual game-winner in the first period and added a short-handed score in the second to keep the Cup away from the Canucks, who have never won it in nearly 41 years of existence. The Bruins are the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 three times in the same postseason, with Thomas posting shutouts in the decisive game of the Eastern Conference finals and the Stanley Cup finals.
The Sedin twins are the NHL's last two scoring champions, but they capped a disastrous series by being on the ice for all four of Boston's goals. Captain Henrik Sedin, last season's MVP, scored just one goal in the series, while Daniel Sedin had two goals and two assists, scoring in just two of the seven games. Boston overcame more than the Vancouver crowd and the NHL's highest-scoring team to win this Cup, though. Starting in the first round, when the Bruins rallied past Montreal after losing the series' first two games at home, this team showed an ability to close out a series, which is something they struggled to do in the recent past. The Bruins failed in their five previous trips to the finals since Bobby Orr led them to championships in 1970 and 1972, losing every time.
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Jonathan Pou is a regular contributing writer for Online Sports Handicapping which offers sports bettors and readers the opportunity to beat the odds makers by offering free sports picks and solid sports betting analysis on every major sport. Compare point spreads on football picks, basketball picks, hockey picks, horse racing picks and fight picks before you make your next wager and come home a winner.