Bruins trounce Canucks to force Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final

The Boston Bruins have thrashed the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

The series is tied 3-3, with Game 7 scheduled on Wednesday (June 15) at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

The Bruins took control of the game early, scoring four unanswered goals within the first 10 minutes.

Brad Marchand’s ninth playoff marker at 5:31 was followed 35 seconds later by Milan Lucic’s fifth goal.

Less than three minutes later, Andrew Ference slapped a shot from the point past Roberto Luongo. That prompted Canucks coach Alain Vigneault to pull his goaltender for the second time of the series, replacing him with Cory Schneider.

Just over a minute later, Michael Ryder made it 4-0 for Boston. Then, things settled down for the next 30 minutes of scoreless play.

Early in the third period, Henrik Sedin scored his first point of the final with a backhanded power-play goal, assisted by brother Daniel and Christian Ehrhoff. It looked like the Canucks were going to make it competitive when Jannik Hansen appeared to score. However, it was waved off after officials reviewed the replay.

At 6:59 of the third period, David Krejci scored his 12th goal of the playoffs, making it 5-1 and putting the game out of reach.

The Canucks made it 5-2 on Maxim Lapierre’s goal at 17:34 of the third period. Henrik Sedin and Hansen posted assists.

Krejci and Henrik Sedin are tied for the lead with 23 points in the postseason.

Schneider stopped 30 of 32 shots directed his way; Bruins netminder Tim Thomas blocked 35 of 37 shots.

Most troubling for the Canucks may be the loss of forward Mason Raymond 20 seconds into the first period. This came after an awkward collision with big Bruin defender Johnny Boychuck.

Raymond was taken to hospital for observation.

Mason Raymond gets crunched into the boards.

Canucks blueliner Andrew Alberts went to the dressing room in the third period, raising questions whether or not he might have suffered an injury. Another Canucks defenceman, Alex Edler, also missed the latter part of the game.

The home team has won every game in the Stanley Cup final.