Canucks edge towards Stanley Cup crown

Canucks are one win away from making history [GALLO/GETTY]

The Vancouver Canucks notched a crucial home win against the Boston Bruins on Friday to move within one victory of capturing the NHL’s Stanley Cup trophy for the first time.

Maxim Lapierre scored from a rebound off the back boards with 15:25 to play and Roberto Luongo stopped 31 shots as the Canucks took a 3-2 series lead in the best of seven finals.

For Luongo, the shutout was a redemption after he was pulled from his last game after giving up 12 goals in less than four periods in two blow-out defeats in Boston.

“It’s never been easy for me in my career, it’s always been a battle,” said Luongo, who was in goal for Canada when they won gold at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Luongo said he did not let the heavy Boston losses get to him, but says he did take a walk along Vancouver’s seawall after the team returned to the city on Canada’s Pacific coast to “clear his head” before Friday’s battle.

Redemption

Luongo turned away all 31 shots, including several tough saves in the final minutes as Boston tried to claw their way back in to the game.

There had been questions whether Luongo would start, but he showed top form from the outset, robbing Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in the first period after he grabbed a rebound and fired away at point-blank range.

“(Luongo) knows that we believe in him,” Vancouver forward Alex Burrows said.

“He’s unreal. We have so much confidence in him, and he doesn’t listen to what people outside this locker room say. We know he’s the best goalie in the league.”

Luongo’s team mates also appeared to regain their footing.

After being outmuscled in Boston, they out-hit the Bruins 47-27 and showed the form that had given them narrow wins in the first two games of the series in Vancouver.

Vancouver got into penalty trouble in the first period, but stopped Boston from taking advantage of it and coach Alain Vigneault said they were then able to overcome the second period let-downs they had suffered in both games in Boston.

Boston goalie Tim Thomas stopped 24 shots until Lapierre took advantage of his aggressive style and knocked one in from the side off the sprawling netminder.

Testing times

Boston coach Claude Julien gave credit to Luongo’s performance but said his team did not test him hard enough.

“Tonight they were the better team,” Julien told reporters.

Game 6 is Monday night in Boston, and the Stanley Cup will be there.

The Canucks have scored just six goals in five Stanley Cup finals games against brilliant Tim Thomas, yet they’re one victory away from winning it all.

Julien downplayed the pressure of facing potential elimination in Game Six, saying he was confident that his team could take the series to seven games and win just as they did against Montreal and Tampa Bay earlier in the playoffs.

“I don’t think we’re a team that’s done anything the easy way, so in certain ways, it’s not a surprising that we’re here in this situation where we got to bring our team back home and create a Game Seven,” he said.

Despite the win, Vancouver still has aspects of their game they need to improve. The powerplay, among the league’s best during the regular season, has fallen flat in this series and it failed to score in four chances it had on Friday.

Boston’s powerplay unit has also struggled, and captain Zdeno Chara said they were going to work harder to get shots on Luongo and put traffic in front of his net to block his view and grab any rebounds he surrenders.

While Vancouver is eyeing the first Stanley Cup in the team’s 40 years in the NHL, the Bruins are trying to end a championship drought that has lasted since 1972.