Video: Tim Thomas Defends Crease, Fights Alex Burrows

With less than two minutes remaining in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins up 4-0 Tim Thomas showed Alex Burrows that he will not allow anyone to take liberties in his crease.  Alex Burrows chopped the goal stick of Thomas out of his hands, Thomas retrieved the stick and proceeded to chop the knee of Burrows.  Burrows spun around and started throwing punches at Thomas, but there was no backing down as Thomas started throwing right back.

In the last two games Tim Thomas has thrown a hit on Henrik Sedin and thrown punches with Alex Burrows.  At some point the Canucks are going to learn that Tim Thomas is going to defend his crease by any means necessary.

Video: Nathan Horton Stretchered Off Following Late Hit By Aaron Rome

Hockey is a violent and sometimes brutal sport, but the sight of Nathan Horton laying prone on the ice was a scary one early in the first period of Game 3 tonight. Mike Murphy will have another decision to make in this series concerning supplemental discipline, but this one should result in a suspension.

At 5:07 of the first period Bruins' forward Nathan Horton was laid out by a late hit to the head by Canucks' defender Aaron Rome.  The NHL installed Rule 48 last offseason to protect players from blindside hits to the head when they are defenseless. 

A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.

Tonight was a prime example of what the rule was looking to remove from the game.  After moving the puck just outside the Vancouver Canucks’ blueline Horton was leveled by Rome who left his feet, made first contact to the head of Horton while he was defenseless.  

For those who want to claim that Horton was at fault for watching his pass there is the issue of just how late the hit was.  The standard for a late hit is .5 seconds, while this one was nearly 1 full second late. 

TSNRyanRishaug: According to TSN newsroom aces, release of puck to hit was 28 frames, 30 is a full second, so substantially late as NHL standard half second

Aaron Rome was assessed a five minute major for interference and a game misconduct for the hit.  I would expect the combination of the hit itself and the lateness of it will result in a significant suspension for Rome that could last into next season.

Horton laid prone on the ice for several minutes before eventually being taken off on a stretcher.

Update from Bruins: Update on Nathan Horton: he has been transported to Mass Gen Hosp and is moving all his extremities. No further update at this time ^BB 

Video:

Wolski Goal, Lundqvist Shutout Lead Rangers Over Canucks

Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images

Tonight the New York Rangers made a statement that if they play their game they can beat anyone in this league with their 1-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.  It takes an effort like the Rangers had tonight when you are trying to beat a team that has not lost in regulation since December 5 of last year, a stretch that lasted 17 games before tonight.

Anyone who says 1-0 hockey games cannot be exciting needs to watch this game and then claim that because it had everything.  There were scoring chances, great saves, wonderful penalty killing, huge hits and suspense to the final buzzer.  This was the best game of the season so far and the atmosphere in the Garden was tremendous as it reflected the effort given by their boys on the ice.

The only goal of the evening would come from the new guy as Wojtek Wolski would score 7:18 into the second period off a scramble in front where Marian Gaborik had hit the post and Wolski cleaned up the rebound for the power play tally.  What will not show up on the box score is the play by Ryan McDonagh that made the power play possible when he stepped up in the neutral zone to intercept a Vancouver pass and then played a beautiful chip pass down the boards to Artem Ansiimov who broke in and gots pulled down leading to a power play.

Other than that goal the story of the night was Henrik Lundqvist’s 31 saves for his sixth shutout this season and the defense the Rangers played.  The Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brandon Prust line was phenomenal on both ends of the ice tonight and especially in shutting down the Sedin line.

The biggest moment of the game was when the Rangers killed off a 5-on-3 power play for the league’s number one power play unit during the second period.  The disadvantage started after Alex Burrows got away with spearing Marc Staal in the groin and on the retaliation slashed at Burrows skates and was called for a two minute tripping minor.  To make matters worse with Staal in the box Chris Drury would deflect the puck out of midair over the glass and be called for a delay of game penalty.  Both calls were bogus, but the Rangers did not let that impact them as they killed the 47 second 5-on-3 and then the 1:13 5-on-4 led by Brian Boyle first and foremost.

Henrik was at his best late in the game and finished off a tremendous win.

• Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust by far the line of the night
• Dubinsky with tremendous effort again
• Gaborik had plenty of chances tonight but whether it be posts or failed breakaways he cannot finish for his life right now
• Wolski gave great effort on both sides of the ice
• All six defenders played tremendous especially McDonagh and Gilroy in their shifts against the Kesler line which was what many worried about coming in.  People assumed that Staal and Girardi would do what they do but worried about the lower lines hurting the Rangers and those two in particular were great in preventing that.

Alex Burrows Spears Marc Staal In "Nether Regions"; Suspension Likely (Video)

During the second period of tonight's New York Rangers Vancouver Canucks game Alex Burrows used his stick as a weapon jacking it upwards while it was between Marc Staal's legs.  Following the move Staal fell to the ice in obvious and understandable pain. While on the ice Staal slashed at Burrows skates and took Burrows down receiving a two minute minor for tripping.  The fact that Staal received a penalty on the play was not surprising, but that he was the only one getting a call was. One would expect the league to step in and review the play with a suspension for Burrows and his egregious use of his stick as a weapon. 

Video is from the Canucks broadcast.

Tanner Glass Knuckle Busting Right Hand Knocks Out Matt Martin (Video)

Tonight on Long Island Matt Martin of the Islanders and Tanner Glass of the Vancouver Canucks faced off and after losing the early stages of the fight against Martin, Tanner Glass wound up for a right hand that clocked Matt Martin square and knocked him flat on the ice.  Guess it was the elbow pad that was holding Glass back early in the fight because this was the first punch he threw following shaking that thing off.  Check out the punch and also how Glass has to check on his bloody knuckle once he is in the penalty box.

Video: Jody Shelley Sucker Punches Andrew Alberts

Tonight in the third period of a blowout win for the Vancouver Canucks, Flyers forward Jody Shelley decided to sucker punch Andrew Albert during a third period scrum. Seems that sucker punches are becoming more of the rage these days in the NHL with the one that Milan Lucic threw in the brawl against the Thrashers last week in which he was only fined and not suspended. My guess says based on his history the NHL will suspend Shelley and they may even try to make an example of him to stop this stuff because sucker punches have no place in the game of hockey. If you want to fight a guy then fine go fight the guy but to act like you are wrapping up with one player and then catch another blind with a punch is beyond the scope. You would think in a league with their new emphasis on taking away head shots and blindside hits from the game they would treat this as harshly or even more so than one of those.

Video: Vancouver Green Men Taunt Maple Leafs By Tossing Waffles

The Vancouver Canucks always have something at home no other home team in the NHL possesses, The Green Men of Vancouver.  The Green men are guys who in green body suits taunt the opposition players while they are in the penalty box.  Well tonight it was the Toronto Maple Leafs turn to go to Vancouver and the Green Men obviously keep up with current events as they saw what went on in Toronto when a fan threw waffles on the ice following the Leafs losing to the Flyers.  Tonight the Green Men brought that back in hilarious fashion when Leafs forward Tim Brent was in the box serving a goalie interference penalty early in the first.