Your Boston Bruins-Vancouver Canucks 2011 Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 primer

Many Boston Bruins fans are probably still stewing about Alex Burrows‘ great Game 2 performance. They should relax, though, since their own team benefited from a game-winning goal by a could-have-been-suspended player when Nathan Horton scored Game 7′s only goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fairly gained or not, the Vancouver Canucks take a 2-0 series lead into Boston for Game 3. Both of the first two games came down to last-minute goals, leaving the Bruins wondering what could have been. How will they feel about things after tonight? We’ll have to wait and see.

Vancouver @ Boston (Versus) – 8 p.m. ET; Canucks lead series 2-0

The lineups shouldn’t be drastically different tonight, although there are some rumblings that Shawn Thornton might play for Boston tonight (possibly for not-so-hot-anymore rookie Tyler Seguin). Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis almost certainly won’t return to the Vancouver lineup in Game 3 (and beyond, perhaps).

The Bruins have a chance to make the series score match what has been some tightly fought games so far. PHT produced a ton of content for Game 3, so check out some of the highlights below.

• What Game 2 told us.
• Examining a solid (if sparse) return by Manny Malhotra.
• Five Thoughts about Game 2.
• The Canucks use psychology to earn an edge.
• Bruins look to historical 2-0 comebacks for inspiration to begin their own.
• Mark Recchi became the oldest player in Stanley Cup finals history to score a goal when he deflected a shot past Roberto Luongo on the power play.
• Tim Thomas won’t change his aggressive ways, even if Luongo is enjoying a better mix of aggressiveness and heady play so far.
• Canucks fans made a lot of noise in Game 2 … but not as much as Chicago or Philadelphia fans during their highest points in 2010.
• Alain Vigneault wasn’t pleased with Rich Peverley‘s slash; Claude Julien is still angry about the Burrows bite and his teammates’ reaction.
• Burrows went from not being drafted to becoming a dark horse candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
• Will the bounces keep going Vancouver’s way? Perhaps home ice advantage will allow the Bruins to earn more bounces instead?
• The Bruins hope to cut down on their mistakes (in the neutral zone and beyond) to turn this series around.
• Neither team will blame jet lag for defeat, despite dealing with a 2,500+ mile trip from Vancouver to Boston.
• Canucks’ “College Line” brings American flavor to Vancouver.
• Want even more content? Check out the Game 1 and Game 2 primers for all you can ask for.