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

The Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins will meet Monday night in game six of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden in Boston.  The series is currently lead by Vancouver, 3 games to 2, who after jumping out to a 2-0 lead and then being blitzed in Boston in games three and four, came up with a huge win Friday night to re-take the lead. The Canucks got their game winner from Max Lapierre and 31 saves from Roberto Luongo in that victory.  That game kept with the theme of the series; it has been a tale of two cities with both teams playing much better at home than on the road.  Tonight is the biggest game of the series so far, as the Canucks try and close out the series in six while the Bruins look to keep their season alive and grab the momentum heading in to a potential game seven in Vancouver.

For Boston, Claude Julien will give the nod in goal to Tim Thomas, who has played every minute of these playoffs so far.  Thomas is having a magnificent postseason, pacing all goaltenders in GAA (2.07) and save percentage (.937) while placing second in both wins with 14 and shutouts with 3.  If the Bruins are to extend the series, Thomas will need to be at his best.  Boston is led in scoring by center David Krejci, who has 22 points.  Those 22 points, eleven of which are goals, lead the postseason in both categories.  On the injury front, winger Nathan Horton is out with a severe concussion that he sustained in game four.  No lineup changes are likely to be made from the team that played in Vancouver late last week.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault will give the nod in net to Roberto Luongo, coming off his shutout in game five.  Bobby Lou has had an up and down postseason, but overall is sixth in both save percentage (.919) and GAA (2.43) in these playoffs. Luongo leads in both shutouts and wins with 4 and 15, respectively, this postseason. He, too, will need to be at his best if Vancouver is to close this out. The Canucks are paced in scoring by their captain Henrik Sedin, who has 21 points, 19 of which are assists.  In terms of injuries, both defenseman Aaron Rome (suspension) and winger Mikael Samuelsson (shoulder) are out and will not be back for the rest of the Final.  Defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who is believed to have a ruptured testicle, is with the team in Boston and will skate in the morning; he is, however, considered doubtful (for good reason).  It is not known who he would replace in the lineup.

Puck drops for this one 8:15-ish.