Skip to main content

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is ranked No. 3 in faceoffs won during this year's playoffs with a 62.3 per cent efficiency. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)Chris O'Meara/The Associated Press

Special teams should determine the winner of the 2011 Stanley Cup, and it's a well-reasoned theory, except for one hole.

There may not be any special-teams play.

The Vancouver Canucks sure hope not, because special teams were a major reason why they finished the regular season as the NHL's best team, and why they advanced through three rounds of the playoffs to reach the Cup final.

The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, have an abysmal power play, and would prefer the officials swallow their whistles and allow as much 5-on-5 play as the rulebook will allow. That's where they shine.

The first clues come Wednesday, when the sides meet in Game 1 at Rogers Arena.

"That's going to be the deciding factor, I think," Canucks winger Daniel Sedin said of special teams. "Five-on-five, we're equally good, throughout the regular season and the playoffs. So special teams are going to be a big factor."

Special teams were central to Vancouver's defeat of the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference final. The Canucks' power play struck for three 5-on-3 goals in Game 4, and converted nine of 24 opportunities in the series. On the flip side, after allowing goals on San Jose's first five power plays, the Canucks killed off 15 of the next 17 opportunities.

Penalty-killer Jannik Hansen said once the Sharks revealed their tendencies, the Canucks figured out the counter-measures. Players have been watching film of Boston's power play this week, but they haven't been frightened by what they've seen.

The Bruins have scored just five goals in 61 power-play chances this postseason (8.2 per cent), and ranked 20th in the regular season with a 16.2-per-cent success rate.

Vancouver's power play, conversely, was No. 1 in the regular season at 24.3 per cent - and it is up to 28.3 per cent in the playoffs.

"We don't have a set setup," Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin said. "A lot of movement, a lot of puck movement, and players moving around. That's the key to our success. We're tough to read."

Of course, Vancouver's creativity with the man advantage means squat if there are no man-advantage situations.

That was the case in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, when Boston's 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning became the first NHL playoff game in more than 20 years without a penalty. (Several Canucks players also noted Tuesday the officials pocketed their whistles in the third period and two overtime sessions of Game 5 against the Sharks.)

The Bruins are the best even-strength team in hockey. They finished first in that category during the regular season, scoring 1.4 goals for every 5-on-5 goal allowed. In the playoffs, they lead the pack with an astonishing 1.74 goals for every goal allowed.

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis, fined by the NHL earlier this spring for remarking on officiating, said he expected a quality performance from the men in stripes because they also have to earn their way to the Cup final, and constitute the best of the best.

Vancouver players said they expected a moving standard based on the two referees selected for each game - from a pod consisting of Dan O'Rourke, Dan O'Halloran, Kelly Sutherland and Stephen Walkom - and would have to adapt on a nightly basis.

"I don't mind them letting us play," Daniel Sedin said. "It's the Stanley Cup finals, and it's going to be a battle out there. They're probably going to have to call the hookings, and the slashings, and the trippings, but other than that, it should be left for the players to decide."

Interact with The Globe