Mercy!

The B's made the Canucks their prison bitch last night, crushing them 8-1.

• Game was a lot closer for awhile in the beginning. The first period ended, 0-0 with Thomas making crazy saves as usual.
• Then they got a fluke goal and then the floodgates opened. Ference is mad clutch. I actually told the guy to my left during the first intermission, "Ference is so clutch". Then he scored 11 seconds in.
  
• That Marchand goal, holy shit, that was something else. Steals from one of the Sedin Sisters, smokes, uh, Edler or something, beats Kesler, then beats Luongo. Then kisses his glove in front of the 'nucks bench.
• Having 'nuck fans in the arena, with those colors, felt very Whalers-ish, like the Canes were in town. Most of 'em looked Samoan.
  
• The drama/circus that was the 2nd & 3rd period, I don't see that happening again. The whole finger thing, the scrums, the 10-minute misconducts, the NHL doesn't want that stuff happening again. As much as it makes people watch the game, they don't want it for some reason. I dunno.
• Possibly the defining moment of Tim Thomas' season, if not career, could be that check he did on one of the Sedins. No one was expecting that, for him to just shove the guy while he was trying to field the puck in mid-air. I was wondering if it was a penalty - but what would that penalty be? 2 minutes for being awesome?
• Rogers Network, TSN, and NHL Network were set up at the east entrance to the Gahden. Saw Bob Mackenzie & Ray Ferraro talkin' about stuff.

• So, yeah, all I wanted was 1 good game in this Stanley Cup Finals. Now, I'm actually believing in the team again. The Russian's been cut! Perhaps one could think to what Aaron Ward said a few years ago in the postseason (and I'm paraphrasing here) "[the playoffs are] about finding an identity, then maintaining that identity." So the B's tried to play the prevent defense and the finesse game in Vancouver, but they come home and go "oh yeah, we don't do that; we play like THIS" and then laid the smack down. Or maybe they just wanted to give us all a good show before puking like McNabb. Not McNab.
• The hit on Horton was just horrible - mainly because he was so dazed and the camera zoomed in on his face...and his chest struggling to breathe as the wind was knocked out of him. This one may linger, not only was the hit bad but his head hit the ice weird. Hopefully his recovery is on schedule for next season.