OK, maybe happy is asking too much. It was still a Game 1 loss for the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final, yet another hole from which to claw out, for a team that's done that more times than the creepy little girl from "The Ring."
But as Bruins forward Milan Lucic put it after the Vancouver Canucks' 1-0 win on Wednesday night: "It sucks that we lost in the last 18 seconds, but I think we did a lot of good things tonight."
That they did. The Bruins played a damn impressive road game that made up in brute force what it lacked in grace. Sometimes, postgame comments that spin a loss ring hollow; the Bruins' confidence after Game 1, despite the loss, wasn't counterfeit. From coach Claude Julien:
"Yeah, I think we played a real good road game, to be honest with you.� To be in the situation we were after two periods, I didn't mind it, especially against this hockey club. I thought our PK did a great job against their power-play.� Timmy made the big saves when he had to.� Like I said, for two periods, I was pretty pleased.� Obviously, third period they were the better team and they ended up scoring that goal. It got away from us, but we still got an opportunity here in the next game to hopefully get that one and kind of get the home-ice advantage."
So what went right for the B's?
1. Tim Thomas
The Bruins' MVP played like it on the road in Game 1. He was tested more than Roberto Luongo, stopping odd-man rushes that included a wonderful breakaway save on Jannik Hansen in the third period to keep it scoreless. He was aggressive and emotional, challenging Canucks shooters to the point where Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault complained about Thomas being out of his crease so often:
"Their goaltender is always out of the blue and comes into other people's ice. We're�going�to need a little bit of clarification there, especially when�he's�initiating�contact�with�our team."
That was in reference to the tripping call on Alex Burrows in the second period that Thomas drew while well out of the paint.
It was a 33-save confidence builder for Thomas and the Bruins. Read more about the Boston keeper from Nick Cotsonika from Vancouver.
2. Penalty Kill
Thomas was the backbone of this special teams unit, which left the Vancouver power play without a goal on five chances, in 9:31 of power-play time and with seven shots. Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference were the primary killers on defense; Gregory Campbell, Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Patrice Bergeron up front. They limited the chances on Thomas, didn't allow the Sedins to cycle (despite two shots from Daniel Sedin) and didn't allow the Canucks defensemen to turn the offensive zone into a shooting gallery. A great effort for a unit that was torched in Game 6 against the Lightning.
3. Zdeno Chara
"It was challenging. They made some plays. We made some good defensive plays too."
Chara was in beast mode during Game 1. He played 28:09, including 4:32 on the power play and 6:17 short-handed. He pumped six pucks at Luongo, with only one finding the net. He was credited with one hit; that's because Canucks players were bouncing off of him, like when someone in the old WWF would try and take down Andre The Giant with a running shoulder block. Not gonna happen.
In an inconsistent postseason for Chara, the Bruins need him to be the counterbalance to the Sedins, which he was in Game 1. Alain Vigneault did what he could to get the Sedins off and Ryan Kesler's line on against Chara as the game wore on. But at 6-foot-9, he's a hard man to avoid.
4. Physical Play
Another good sign for the Bruins. Even though they might seem like the more physical team ? Big Bad Bruins and all of that ? the Canucks actually lead the playoffs in hits with 626, or about 33 hits per game. Boston's average is now 25 per game (476 for the playoffs), having out-hit the Canucks in Game 1, 31-30.
If they can do that and play the penalty game even (both teams had 14 PIMs), that's a path to success for the Bruins, who need to establish a net presence against Luongo ... which means bashing through his stout defense.
Speaking of success … or lack thereof.
5. The Power Play
Can the Bruins actually find a silver lining to their putrid power play? Yes, they can.
The Bruins, who had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:32 early in the second period, are now 5-for-61 on the power play this postseason and it finally appears to be catching up to them. Even so, following another power failure by his team, coach Claude Julien spun some positives by pointing out that the penalty kill did its job.
"I think our power play was better tonight than it had been in a while," Julien said. "We spent a lot of time, had some shots, had some opportunities had some chances. So we didn't score and obviously when your power play isn't doing well, people are going to criticize because it didn't score. But I think the same thing happened on the other side. And as long as we are able to stay on even terms with them when it comes to special teams, we're OK with that."
Milan Lucic, of the single power-play point this postseason, said the Bruins "had some good movements. We had some shots."
The 5-on-3 in the second period was dismal, producing four shots but no manic pressure. But they had eight shots on their other power plays, had some sustained pressure and didn't have the type of momentum-sapping 2-minutes-in-hell they had been having during the Eastern Conference playoffs.
At this point, a participation ribbon is a positive reward for this power play.
So there were some positives. The scoreboard wasn't one of them. And as Tim Thomas said after Game 1: "We've been happy with the way we've battled all playoffs. But we're not out there to say, 'Oh we played a good game and battled.' We're out there to win."
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