Canucks' Rome unhappy with ban for Horton hit

BOSTON -- Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome wouldn't change much about the hit on Boston's Nathan Horton that got him suspended for the rest of the Stanley Cup finals.

Rome spoke Sunday for the first time about his finals-record four-game suspension after skating with the Canucks in practice heading into Game 6 on Monday.

"I've got to play on the edge, and I guess that was a little bit over the edge," Rome said.

While Rome has sympathy for Horton, who's out for the series with a concussion, he doesn't feel he did anything extraordinarily dangerous in their fast, hard-hitting sport when he flattened Horton early in Game 3 last week. Rome said he sent a text message to Horton, but hasn't heard back.

“

If I could go back, obviously you don't want anybody to get hurt, but I don't think I'd change the decision.

” -- Aaron Rome

"It's a split-second decision," Rome said. "There's no intent to hurt anybody. If I could go back, obviously you don't want anybody to get hurt, but I don't think I'd change the decision."

Rome delivered his hit after Horton made a pass near the blue line, leaving the Boston forward unconscious on the ice. Horton left the building on a stretcher, and the Bruins rode a wave of emotion to consecutive victories at home.

While Rome was vilified in Boston, his teammates jumped to his defense, claiming a four-game ban was excessive and unprecedented. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault thought the hit was late, but remained supportive of Rome.

Although Rome's ban is four times longer than any suspension handed out in finals history, he hasn't appealed it, hinting that he feels such a move would be pointless. Rome said the NHL's suspension criteria are "arbitrary," and he doesn't understand why the league ended his chance to skate for the Stanley Cup after a hit he believes was barely illegal.

"I've got to step up. I've got to be physical," Rome said. "That's just part of my game. ... If I had been a half-second, a quarter-second earlier, I probably wouldn't be in this position."

Rome understands why Horton might not be returning his texts, noting he felt similar emotions after San Jose's Jamie McGinn boarded him from behind during the Western Conference finals, giving Rome an apparent concussion that forced him to sit out two games.

Rome had no significant history as a dirty player before this hit. The journeyman defenseman has played in 131 NHL games with three clubs over the past five seasons, bouncing up and down from the AHL before earning a full-time job in Vancouver this year.

Yet his hit inspired the Bruins, who acknowledged rallying in Horton's honor. Before Game 4, Hall of Famer Bobby Orr waved a flag with Horton's name and No. 18 on it during a stirring pregame tribute.

Horton's injury was the most serious development in an uncommonly bad-tempered finals, which began with Vancouver forward Alex Burrows' apparent bite of Patrice Bergeron's finger, followed by related taunts from both teams. Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo also made headlines after Game 5 with comments deemed to be disrespectful of Boston goalie Tim Thomas.

Vancouver leads the series 3-2 going into Monday's game.

Rome's absence has forced the Canucks to use every bit of their deep defensive corps. After veteran Keith Ballard replaced Rome in Game 4, Vancouver rookie Chris Tanev played splendidly in Game 5 as the Canucks pushed Boston to the brink of elimination.

Rome will be a spectator for the rest of June, but he's still working up a sweat in the Canucks' practices.

"You want to be a part of it," Rome said. "Just because I'm not playing, I'm not going to hide in a cave and mope. It's a way to relieve some stress. ... This is nothing that you want to go through, but it makes you stronger and makes you look on the bright side of things."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

 

Luongo On Canucks' Game 5 Win

Roberto Luongo records 31 saves as Canucks head back to Boston up 3-2

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Canucks one win from hoisting first Stanley Cup

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- With a fortunate bounce and a flawless goalie, the Vancouver Canucks are heading back to Boston with the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Maxim Lapierre scored on a carom off the back boards with 15:25 to play, Roberto Luongo stopped 31 shots in a stirring shutout after getting pulled from his last game, and the Canucks moved to the brink of their first NHL championship with a 1-0 victory over Boston in Game 5 on Friday night.

Luongo helped Vancouver take a 3-2 series lead, posting his fourth shutout of the playoffs and second of the Stanley Cup finals after giving up 12 goals in less than four periods during two blowout losses in Boston.

The Boston Bruins have lost all three road games in the Stanley Cup finals, having managed just two goals away from home. The club is just 1-13 on the power play, including an 0-4 in Friday's Game 5 loss.

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"There was something about him before the game," said Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa, who set up the only goal. "He just seemed so comfortable, so confident. He was vocal, and usually he's not a vocal guy. We thought it would be something special."

Game 6 is Monday night in Boston, and the Stanley Cup will be there.

The Canucks have scored just six goals in five Stanley Cup finals games against brilliant Boston goalie Tim Thomas, yet they're one victory away from winning it all.

"We've been through this, I don't know how many times," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We're not a team that's done anything the easy way, so in a way, it's not a surprise we're here. ... Tonight was certainly not a good night for our power play, not a good night for our whole team in creating scoring chances."

Neither team found an offensive flow in a Game 5 nail-biter, but Luongo kept Vancouver in it until Lapierre and Bieksa teamed up on a goal that set off a crazy celebration among tens of thousands of fans thronging downtown Vancouver.

Luongo was pulled from Game 4, but coach Alain Vigneault stuck with him for Game 5. The Olympic champion was only occasionally spectacular, but he still narrowly outplayed Thomas, who has received just two goals of support from his teammates in three games in Vancouver.

"(Luongo) knows that we believe in him," Vancouver forward Alex Burrows said. "He's unreal. We have so much confidence in him, and he doesn't listen to what people outside this locker room say. We know he's the best goalie in the league."

Roberto Luongo has struggled in two road games in Boston with a save percentage under .800. But he has been a wall in Vancouver this series, winning all three game while posting a 0.67 goals against average and a .979 save percentage.

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Thomas made 24 saves in Game 5, but lost his shutout streak of 110 minutes, 42 seconds dating to Game 3. With injured forward Nathan Horton's jersey hanging in the visitors' locker room, the Bruins' power play regressed to its previous postseason struggles, going 0 for 4.

After two scoreless periods of stellar goaltending in which Boston went scoreless on four power plays, the Canucks finally connected with a supremely heady play by the veteran Bieksa, who used Thomas' aggressive style against him.

Bieksa deliberately put a long shot wide of the goal, and when Thomas instinctively moved to his glove side to play it, the puck ricocheted off the back boards straight to Lapierre, who put it behind Thomas for just his second goal of the postseason.

"I hope I was trying to miss the net, because I missed it by about 8 feet," Bieksa said. "I didn't have a real good angle to the net, so I just put it up there and got a good bounce."

Lapierre was a late-season acquisition who largely serves as an agitator for the Canucks, not a scorer. He's never managed more than 15 goals in a season, and he had just six this season while playing for Montreal, Anaheim and Vancouver.

"Those are usually the kind of goals that go in when no one is scoring," Thomas said. "A lot of times it's going to be that fluke one off the boards, and Lapierre didn't even get the shot off clean. If he got the shot off clean, I would have been able to read it better and would have had a better chance at it."

The Canucks hung on from there, winning their sixth straight home playoff game since May 7.

If Vancouver can't improve on its last trip to Boston, the finals will go to Game 7 in Vancouver on Wednesday night. The home team has won every game in this series, and the Bruins have won their last five at home.

In the last 21 times the finals were even going to Game 5, the winner went on to claim the Cup 15 times -- yet Colorado (2001), Tampa Bay (2004) and Pittsburgh (2009) all overcame Game 5 losses to win it in the past decade.

Luongo receives more criticism than almost any goalie with his level of accomplishment at hockey's most elite levels, yet he has shown resilience throughout the postseason. He came back from a one-game benching in the first round against Chicago with a 2-1 victory in Game 7, and Vigneault unhesitatingly stuck by Luongo in the finals, ignoring widespread trashing of his $10 million goalie after Boston's 8-1 and 4-0 home wins.

The Canucks were grateful to return to Rogers Arena, where they eked out two one-goal wins to open the series on late goals by Raffi Torres and Alex Burrows. Vancouver seemed to be in control when the club left Canada last weekend -- but then the Bruins seized charge of the series with two inspired performances after Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome's late hit knocked Horton out for the series with a concussion early in Game 3.

Boston is still having tremendous defensive success in the finals, holding 2010 league MVP Henrik Sedin without a point and limiting NHL scoring champion Daniel Sedin to one goal. Vancouver's power play is 1 for 25 in the finals -- yet the Bruins just haven't scored timely road goals to back up Thomas, who allowed one goal in two games in Boston.

Boston had three early power plays in Game 5 and controlled long stretches of play, but couldn't crack Luongo. Chris Kelly hit Luongo's crossbar with an early shot, and Luongo made a stunning point-blank save on Patrice Bergeron's rebound shot from the slot during Boston's third power play.

Vancouver killed another Boston power play and survived several dicey sequences in the second period before taking control of play midway through the game. But Canucks forward Tanner Glass fanned on an uncontested 15-foot backhand at Thomas' open net moments later, and the NHL's best power play failed to score on its first two chances.

After Lapierre's goal, the Canucks weathered Boston's pressure impressively. Luongo was forced to make only a handful of tough saves on Boston's 10 shots in the third.

The foreboding clouds above downtown Vancouver matched the mood of many fans who watched as their worst fears about the Canucks were realized back in Boston. Vancouver's impressive skill level and high-scoring offense has been negated by opponents' toughness and will in previous postseason runs. What's more, many Canucks fans still simply don't trust Luongo, who has been under fire from home fans for a few years despite his superb career achievements.

Tens of thousands of fans still flooded downtown for Game 5, wearing their team's crisp blue-and-green jerseys and waving flags or carrying replica Stanley Cups around Granville and Robson streets. The sea of people erupted in raucous cheers when Lapierre scored.

NOTES: Canucks rookie D Chris Tanev played his first game of the series, replacing Keith Ballard after the veteran struggled in Game 4. Tanev's pass set up Glass for his missed chance. ... Boston had scored 10 goals in the second periods of the past three games before getting shut out in Game 5. ... Boston D Tomas Kaberle played in his 100th postseason game in a career spent entirely with Toronto until this season. ... UFC president Dana White -- a Massachusetts native -- attended the game, as did heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and contender Junior Dos Santos. Dos Santos fights Shane Carwin in the main event of UFC 131 in Rogers Arena on Saturday night. ... NBA star Steve Nash sat in the stands, leading cheers for his hometown team with a white rally towel.

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Luongo gets starting nod for Canucks in Game 5

VANCOUVER -- Roberto Luongo will be back in the Vancouver goal for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Luongo

"You can bet on that," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said Thursday evening after the team arrived from Boston.

Luongo was pulled after giving up four goals on 20 shots in a 4-0 Game 4 loss Wednesday night. Overall he gave up 12 goals in both games at Boston.

But Vigneault said his team's struggles in Boston were more than just about one player and dismissed any talk that he would start backup Cory Schneider over Luongo as he did for Game 6 of their first-round series with Chicago.

"Roberto is the guy, he's my guy and he's playing," said Vigneault. "It's that simple."

A confident-sounding Luongo said he was ready to put the last two games behind him.

"You know, it's the Stanley Cup finals, you have to think about the goal here," Luongo said Thursday evening. "Obviously, we lost two games and it's 2-2, and it's two out of three, and we have home-ice advantage. That's the way you look at it. We have a chance to get up 3-2 tomorrow."

Pierre LeBrun covers hockey for ESPN.com.

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