Published June 13, 2011
After struggling in two games in Boston, Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo bounced back with a solid Game 5 Friday at home. (AP)
I dared to think about it. I dared to imagine the incredulous feeling that could have been Monday night at the TD Garden. Friday night, while driving home from work, I had that tingly feeling when we think of the improbable, the excitement we get from some of the greatest moments in our lives. I had come thisclose to turning that corner and letting it all hang out.
What the heck was I thinking?!
I should know by now that what Ringo Starr said so long ago was oh-so-correct: “It don’t come easy.”
These Stanley Cup Playoffs have not been easy for the Boston Bruins — or for us, the fans. Seven games against the Canadiens, a tidy four-game sweep of the Flyers, a tense seven-game standoff with the Lighting. Now, the Bruins are on the brink of elimination.
After lighting up the Vancouver Canucks and Roberto Luongo for 12 goals in the two games in Boston, you would have expected more of the same in Game 5, but a funny thing happened on the way to Canadian soil. The B’s lost their scoring touch and Luongo managed to take lessons from Tim Thomas on how to play goal. Despite the Bruins putting 31 shots on the Canucks’ goalie, many were not of the quality variety. In three games in Vancouver, the visitors have scored a mere two goals. That definitely is not good enough.
We’ve had the weekend of the Red Sox pummeling a different Canadian sports franchise — the Toronto Blue Jays — as a distraction and now we wait with anticipation. It may be Game 6, but really, it’s Game 7 and should the Bruins win, it’ll be Game 7-A back in British Columbia Wednesday. The building will be rocking but every Bruins fan will have that nervous energy, hoping that the home team will again continue to come out on top.
I’ve reeled in that imaginaton of mine because what I was envisioning cannot happen now, at least in Boston. I’ll go back to being a jaded-but-hopeful fan that will be doing my regular job all day, trying not to think of what lies ahead Monday. That’s not going to be very easy. I’ve witnessed this before and things didn’t turn out so rosy. The hope here is that it turns out a lot better!
Go Bruins!!