Bruins lose Horton, then pummel Canucks in Game 3

The Bruins celebrate during their Game 3 massacre of the
Canucks

If the Boston Bruins are to erase the 2-0 series deficit they once faced against the Vancouver Canucks and win the Stanley Cup, we'll trace the team's resurgence back to the 5:07 mark of the first period in Game 3.

Bruins forward Nathan Horton was drilled by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome after passing the puck to Milan Lucic, and lay motionless on the ice after absorbing the late, blindsided hit.

Rome was assessed a game misconduct and sent to the showers, as Horton was ushered off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Horton, who remains hospitalized, will miss the rest of the series with a concussion. Rome has been suspended the remainder of the series as well.

The Bruins responded to the frightening moment by pounding the Canucks into submission in an overwhelming 8-1 win.


As I was watching the devastating hit live, I thought back to Game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, between the Devils and the (then named) Mighty Ducks. Devils defenseman Scott Stevens, who made a career out of feasting on unsuspecting forwards, delivered a similar late hit on Ducks captain Paul Kariya.

Kariya, who appeared to be knocked unconscious for a moment, suddenly came to and was helped off the ice. It was assumed the Ducks star was done for the game, having sustained such a brutal hit. But Kariya came back only minutes later and delivered the Ducks next goal -- an inspiring slap shot that beat Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur.



The Ducks won the game 5-2, but would lose Game 7. Despite losing the series, Kariya's heroics are one of the more indelible images of recent Cup Finals and while I watched Horton nearly decapitated by Rome, I wondered how the Bruins would respond.

They left no doubt.

“I think it definitely made us realize that we all needed to pick it up and step up for him,’’ Daniel Paille told The Boston Globe after the game. “He’s been great for us all playoffs. Obviously, to lose him at this point hurts us. It was nice to see us all come out.’’

After only scratching out two goals in the Games 1 and 2, the B's eight-goal output, which included two shorthanded goals, was their best offensive performance of this postseason. But perhaps more startling than the Bruins' muscle flexing was how quickly the Canucks folded in Game 3.

And the Bruins surely had something to do with that.

Known as a physical, blue collar organization, the B's out-hit the Western Conference champions, 40-31. Heck even their amiable goalie Tim Thomas got into the action, as he clocked Henrik Sedin when the Canucks star skated through his crease.

Yes, the Bruins lost one of their best forwards in Horton (17 points, eight goals in playoffs) for the rest of these Cup Finals, but they may have gained the spark they so desperately needed.

Suddenly this series feels a whole lot different than it did on Saturday night, after the Canucks took a 2-0 lead. How can it not following such a steamrolling?

Sure, the Canucks still have a 2-1 series lead, but I have sneaking suspicion that Rome's dirty hit may have awoken a sleeping giant.