Gameday: Boston at Vancouver - Stanley Cup Final, Game Two

The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks will meet Saturday night in game two of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Vancouver won a dramatic game one when Raffi Torres scored the winner with only 18.5 seconds left after a controversial non-call of offsides on Ryan Kesler, who started the play after collecting a puck near the attacking blue line.  Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo were both exceptional in goal for their clubs, keeping the game scoreless deep into regulation.  Tonight is a huge game for both teams, as the Canucks try and jump out to a commanding 2-0 series lead while the Bruins try and steal home-ice away from Vancouver before heading back to Boston for games three and four.

For Boston, coach Claude Julien will give the nod in net to workhorse Tim Thomas, who has played every minute of the playoffs so far for Boston.  He is second in postseason save percentage with a .931 mark, and  fourth in GAA at 2.23, both excellent numbers, and is also second in shutouts with 2.  The 37 year old American kept Boston in game one, making several amazing saves.  Outside the crease, Julien is expected to keep the same lineup from game one, which means that Shawn Thornton will be a healthy scratch and Tyler Seguin will continue to see ice time.

Vancouver coach Alain Vigenault will give the nod to Roberto Luongo, who will be starting his 18th game of these playoffs.  He is second in NHL postseason GAA with a 2.17 mark,  third in save percentage at .927, and leads the playoffs with three shutouts.  He, too, made several great saves in game one in order to give his team a chance to win late, and they rewarded their goaltender.  On the injury front, defenseman Dan Hamhuis is not expected to play with an undisclosed lower-body injury that he suffered when David Krejci cross-checked him in the second period of game one.  The Canucks will also be missing winger Mikael Samuelsson, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Center Manny Malhotra is questionable with an eye injury.

Puck drops for this one 8:15-ish.