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Five Thoughts: Boston and Tampa Bay play a Game 7 for the ages

Tampa Bay Lightning v Boston Bruins - Game Seven

in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 27, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Elsa

A Game 7 worthy of being labeled a Game 7. This isn’t your 7-0 Game 7 no show or something along those orders. In this case, Boston and Tampa Bay did the way it was meant to be done. Breakneck pace, chances for both sides, tremendous goaltending all around, and ultimately one team going home a tough loser. For Boston, their success in beating Tampa Bay 1-0 ends in euphoria for a night for the Bruins before heading into the Stanley Cup finals and dealing with the league’s best team in Vancouver. On this night, there are more than five thoughts one could have but we’ll keep it in check.

1. When breaking down what we might see in this game, the one thing we figured would be Tampa Bay’s toughest thing to deal with would be if Boston settled in and played “Bruins hockey” and sure enough that’s just what they got a massive dose of. A tight checking game, suffocating pressure from the Bruins forecheck, sticks in passing lanes, and solid goaltending from Tim Thomas. In essence, it was the absolute worst thing Tampa Bay wanted to see in this game.

There was no secret game plan from Lightning coach Guy Boucher and while the Lightning’s best players played well, no one was able to rise above the Bruins defense. You want “Bruins hockey” you saw it in textbook form tonight and it’s all thanks to Claude Julien’s due diligence.

2. Let’s get the elephant out of the room and just move along. Nathan Horton scores the only goal of the game in a game where it was questionable and highly arguable whether or not he should’ve been playing in thanks to his water bottle antics after Game 6. In my mind we all knew deep down that Horton wouldn’t get suspended, after all, it’s “just some water” and the next game was Game 7.

Of course, doing anything to fans should be an instant non-starter so allowing water to be squirted on fans, provoked or not, is something any professional athlete should most definitely know better than to do. Horton’s fortunate that the game was played in Tampa Bay where fans aren’t nearly as excitable as those in say Philadelphia or New York City. It’ll be a point of contention raised by Lightning fans from here on out but one likely to be quickly forgotten, right or wrong, from now on.

3. After everything that went down in Game 7 and with how tight these two teams were all series and all season long, it came down to one play to decide the game. One poor defensive breakdown by Tampa Bay on what appeared to be a set play by the Bruins to get Nathan Horton motoring and going full speed toward the net worked. David Krejci gets the puck at the half-boards and draws the attention of two Lightning defenders opening up the slot where Horton cruised through untouched until too late getting a perfect pass from Krejci. It’s a thing of beauty for Boston to have a play work that way and for Tampa Bay, it’s going to be a very painful replay to watch. One mistake and it turns the series. It’s incredible that this series turned out to be just that close.

4. Let’s give it up for Dwayne Roloson. He’s 41 years-old, he played like crap through most of the series against Boston, sat out of Game 5 in favor of Mike Smith to get a breather, and then played the game of his life in Game 7. Roloson stopped 37 shots in the Game 7 loss, his first loss in an elimination game in his career, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He had numerous highlight reel saves and frustrated Bruins scorers all night long. If not for that aforementioned mistake that game might still be going on now.

While we don’t know what Roloson’s future holds for him, he’s quietly had a very solid playoff career. From Minnesota, to Edmonton, now to Tampa Bay he’s had just a fantastic career as a guy who gets stuff done in the playoffs. No Stanley Cup wins will certainly hurt how people look at him overall, but what a gamer.

5. Now the Bruins’ real test lays ahead of them in the form of Vancouver, and a very well rested Canucks team by the time both teams drop the puck for Game 1 on Wednesday. The instant snap judgment on the series is that the Canucks are going to be licking their chops to get after the Bruins. Add in the possibility that Manny Malhotra could be healthy enough to suit up for them and things stack up tall against Boston.

Of course, there’s a reason they play the games and while Bruins fans have been waiting all playoffs long for Milan Lucic to snap out of things, him getting to suit up for a potential seven game series against his hometown team (Lucic is from Vancouver) should be enough to light a forest fire underneath him. Boston hasn’t had to deal with a team as deep nor as talented all around as Vancouver yet. It will be fascinating to see in action.