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Five things to look for in tonight’s Game 4

Stanley Cup Canucks Bruins Hockey

Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, left, makes a glove save of a shot by Vancouver Canucks left wing Mason Raymond (21) as Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (44), of Germany, defends during the first period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Boston, Monday, June 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

AP

Tonight’s Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals arrives with intrigue pouring out of every possible angle you could draw up. After a Game 3 that saw vicious hits, tons of Boston goals, and lots of frustrated Canucks before and after the game there’s a lot of things Game 4 is going to tell us about how this series goes from here on out.

There’s a lot of different ways you could see happen tonight and we’ve got a list of five things to keep your eyes out for tonight.

1. Referee impact

We’ve seen so many different things happen in this series that’s required the attention of the officials and tonight’s referees Dan O’Halloran and Kelly Sutherland are going to have their hands full with all sorts of things to look for. The series has been overly physical and while everyone’s minds will be stuck on what happened with Nathan Horton and Aaron Rome and the various taunting, the officials have their marching orders to put that to an end should it occur again.

It will also be curious to see if any of the play around the goalies gets monitored right away. Tim Thomas’ physical play has the Canucks all up in arms and they want to see things straightened out there. O’Halloran and Sutherland will have to set the tone early about what sort of game they’re going to call. A loosely officiated one could lead to more dramatics.

2. The Replacements

With Nathan Horton out with a severe concussion and Aaron Rome out for delivering the blow, both teams will have guys to work into the lineup to fill holes in Game 4. Tyler Seguin will be back into the lineup after losing his sport to Shawn Thornton in Game 3. As for who takes Horton’s spot on the top line, you could see either Michael Ryder or Rich Peverley get the call there. Peverley took Horton’s spot there in Game 3 and played well while Ryder had a strong Game 3. Claude Julien may not want to move Ryder away from his Game 3 linemates however.

As for Vancouver, it’ll be Keith Ballard getting the nod to take Rome’s spot on the blue line. Ballard has a wealth of NHL experience but has struggled in dealing with Alain Vigneault’s choices on defense and has been passed over for the likes of Rome and even Chris Tanev at times this year. Vigneault is opting for experience this time around and Ballard will look to make it pay off.

3. Capitalizing on turnovers

Both teams have been excellent at making each other cough up the puck and while the Canucks did well to bury their chances in Games 1 and 2, it was all Boston in Game 3 as they pressured Vancouver’s defense into making bad plays and mishandling the puck, especially on the power play as they helped make the pairing of Christian Ehrhoff and Alex Edler look poor. While the Canucks had their chances off turnovers in Game 3, Tim Thomas helped stop them. We’ll see more of the high pressure defense from both teams and how they handle it may help determine the outcome of the game.

4. Home ice strikes back... In more ways than one

Remember how we were talking about how great road teams have played in the playoffs? So far in the finals the home teams have taken control winning all three games. Home teams are finally back on the right side of the ledger in the playoffs with a 45-40 record. The actual physical ice in TD Garden will be a topic of discussion as well.

After this morning’s skates there were complaints from some players that the ice was in bad shape. A concert was held last night here at TD Garden and today’s been abnormally warm in Boston which means we could see some strange bounces and slower moving pucks during the game. How it holds up later on in the game will be the real test.

5. How Vancouver bounces back

After such a beat down on the scoreboard and on the ice and all the complaining and politicking we’ve heard out of the Canucks since Game 3 ended, how they come back in Game 4 is going to be fascinating to watch. The last time we saw Vancouver take such a wicked beating in the playoffs, a 7-2 loss to Chicago in Game 4 in this year’s first round, they followed up in the next game by losing 5-0 which led to Cory Schneider starting in Game 6. We saw Vancouver get past all that by the skin of their teeth, but following up this beating in the finals with a similar stink bomb would change the focus of the series entirely.

Vancouver will need a better all-around game from Ryan Kesler and a more focused effort from Alex Burrows if they’re going to win this game and set up the potential of winning the Stanley Cup on home ice. Without that they’re in trouble.