Boston Bruins Win the 2011 Stanley Cup

For the first time in 39 years, the Boston Bruins stand atop the professional ice hockey world.

On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the first National Hockey League championship for the Bruins since 1972, and the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.

In the previous six games of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, the home team had won, with Vancouver taking games 1, 2, and 5 and the Bruins winning games 3, 4, and 6. In each of these games, the team that scored first eventually won.

In the historic seventh and deciding game, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored that first goal at 14:37 of the first period. Bergeron and rookie forward Brad Marchand each added a goal in the second period and Marchand provided an empty net goal in the final frame.

Meanwhile, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas saved 37 Canucks shots on goal to earn his fourth shutout of the playoffs. After the game, Thomas was named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2011 NHL playoffs.

The Vancouver Canucks had home ice advantage in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals series, and were heavily favored to beat the Bruins with their blinding speed and elegant playmaking. Vancouver took an early 2-0 series lead with 1-0 and 3-2 home ice victories in games 1 and 2. The series shifted to Boston's TD Banknorth Garden for games 3 and 4. The Bruins capitalized on their home ice advantage, some poor goal tending by Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, and a dominant physical presence on the ice to win both games handily, by scores of 8-1 and 4-0.

Back at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, the Canucks won a close-fought game 5 by a score of 1-0. In Game 6, the Bruins once again evened the series with a 5-2 victory at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden. This set the stage for the historic winner-take-all Game 7 that was eventually won by the Bruins.

The Bruins outscored the Canucks 23-8 in the seven-game Stanley Cup finals series, and became only the fifth professional sports franchise since 1975 to win a deciding Game 7 of a championship series on the road.

The Bruins had earned their spot in the Stanley Cup finals by winning best-of-seven series against the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Two of those series - the ones against the Canadiens and the Lightning - had gone the full seven games, and marked the first time in NHL history that a team had won 3 game 7's to win the Stanley Cup.

Congratulations to the Boston Bruins, winners of the 2011 Stanley Cup!