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Burrows strikes in OT, Canucks take 2-0 series lead

Jun 5, 2011 - 4:31 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Alexandre Burrows continues to be a thorn in the side of the Boston Bruins, scoring the game-winning goal 11 seconds into overtime to lift the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

A critical storyline following the series opener was the playing status of Burrows after he bit the finger of the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron during a scrum at the end of the first period of Wednesday's contest.

The league opted not to suspend the 30-year-old Quebec native, who opened the scoring with a power-play goal and set up Daniel Sedin's game-tying marker in the third period.

"If we start using that as an excuse, we're a lame team," said Boston head coach Claude Julien about Burrows escaping supplemental discipline.

Burrows wasted little time in the extra frame, beating an overly aggressive Tim Thomas on a wraparound and depositing the puck into an open net to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven set.

Although 11 seconds may seem fast, Burrows' decisive goal isn't the quickest overtime goal in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals. That honor belongs to Brian Skrudland of the Montreal Canadiens, who scored just nine seconds past regulation in Game 2 of the 1986 Cup Finals at Calgary.

"Anybody that follows our team knows he's a really important part of our team," said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault about Burrows. "He plays five-on-five, he plays [on the] power play, and he kills penalties. He's one of our go-to guys. Again tonight he came up big in key moments."

Roberto Luongo, coming off his fourth career playoff shutout, stopped 28 shots in the win.

Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi scored 2:35 apart in the second period for the Bruins, while Thomas finished with 30 saves.

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at Boston.

Down 2-1, Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler let go a shot from the right point that hit Burrows, who was positioned between the circles in front of Thomas. Burrows settled down the puck before dishing to an uncovered Sedin and he fired a shot over the fallen Thomas to tie the game with 10:23 left in regulation.

The Canucks were coming off a dramatic last-minute win, as Raffi Torres scored with just 18.5 seconds remaining in the third period Wednesday to lift the Presidents' Trophy winners to a 1-0 victory. It was the latest go- ahead goal in a finals game since 1992, when Mario Lemieux lit the lamp with 13 seconds left in Pittsburgh's Game 1 triumph over Chicago.

It didn't take quite as long Saturday for a goal to be scored.

With the puck tangled in his skates, a backpedaling Zdeno Chara was forced to take an inference penalty in order to prevent Vancouver's Ryan Kesler from gaining control in the attacking zone.

The infraction set up the power-play goal for Burrows. Vancouver rearguard Sami Salo knocked down Andrew Ference's clearing attempt along the left boards and Burrows beat Thomas with a wrister from the faceoff circle at 12:12 of the first.

Boston had an opportunity with the man advantage when Canucks blueliner Kevin Bieksa fired the puck over the glass from his own end, triggering a delay of game penalty 63 seconds into the middle stanza. But the power play remained punchless for Boston, which entered play having gone 1-for-32 on the road in the 2011 playoffs.

The Bruins finally solved Luongo at the nine-minute mark of the second. Luongo repelled Johnny Boychuk's shot from the point, but Lucic, a Vancouver native, buried the rebound.

Less than two minutes later, Boston's struggling power play got another chance when Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome went off for holding. Recchi, one of only two Bruins to win a Stanley Cup, redirected Chara's wrist shot as the veteran forward drifted through the low slot to give Boston its first lead of the series at 11:35.

Game Notes

Burrows scored his second overtime goal of this postseason. His first was the series-clincher in Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against Chicago...Vancouver forward Manny Malhotra played in his first game Saturday since sustaining a severe injury to his left eye on March 16 against the Colorado Avalanche...Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis sat out with an undisclosed injury...Boston suffered its first overtime loss in five playoff games this spring...The Bruins finished 1- for-3 on the power play, while Vancouver was 1-for-2...Home teams winning the first two games of the Finals have gone on to win the Stanley Cup 32 of 34 times...Recchi, at 43 years and 123 days, became the oldest player in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals to score a goal.