Music: {allcanada} Game 2 preview: Bruins at Canucks Saturday night

Friday, June 3, 2011

{allcanada} Game 2 preview: Bruins at Canucks Saturday night

Sizing up the Stanley Cup Final matchup as the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins head to Game 2 Saturday (8 p.m. ET, NBC) in Vancouver:

Situation: The Canucks hold a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Saturday's Game 2 (8 p.m. ET, NBC). Vancouver has won its last eight Game 1s, and it has won Game 2 two times in its first three series this postseason.

Goaltenders: Vancouver's Roberto Luongo vs. Boston's Tim Thomas. You couldn't ask for anything more from the Vezina Trophy finalists, who stopped everything until Raffi Torres scored with 18.5 seconds left.

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Who's hot: The Canucks' third line. Even before the Torres goal, Jannik Hansen and Maxim Lapierre had excellent chances.

Who's not: The Bruins' power play, but that's sounding like a broken record. It's 5-for-67 in the playoffs.

What the Canucks want to do: 1. Attack with speed. Once they got on track in the third period, their speed gave the Bruins problems. 2. Play more disciplined. The Canucks were short-handed too often early on. One of these days, the Bruins' power play will connect. 3. Make more quick side-to-side passes. If Thomas is going to make saves outside the crease, force him to move more.

What the Bruins want to do: 1. Find a way to get the power play going. Moving Zdeno Chara up front helped. The Bruins had their chances. 2. If they can't score on the power play, be brilliant on the penalty kill. Both teams went 0-for-6 Wednesday. Said Bruins coach Claude Julien: "As long as we're able to stay on even terms with them when it comes to special teams, we're OK with that." 3. Get the puck in deeper and forecheck hard. If the Canucks don't have injured defenseman Dan Hamhuis, it could change up two of their defensive pairings. The Bruins can take advantage of that.

Fast fact: The top-seeded team has opened 2-0 in seven of the last eight Finals.