Boston dominates Vancouver in Game 3 with 8-1 beatdown

The injury to Nathan Horton was all the Boston Bruins needed to wake up in order to keep the Stanley Cup Finals going. And the Bruins responded well with anger & furious vengeance.

Andrew Ference and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist during Boston’s four-goal second period while goalie Tim Thomas made 40 saves as Boston gave the Vancouver Canucks an 8-1 beatdown, trimming Vancouver’s series lead to 2-1.

Boston emerged from a three-game offensive slump after Horton was taken off the ice on a stretcher 5 minutes into the game, rendered senseless by a late hit to the head from Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome.

After Horton passed the puck to Milan Lucic at the Vancouver blue line, Rome left his feet to deliver a hard shoulder check to Horton’s upper chest and head. Horton appeared to be unconscious after he landed flat on his back, his arm spookily reaching up into empty space. Medical personnel spent several minutes attending to Horton before taking him off the ice. The Boston crowd rose and cheered several minutes later when a scoreboard message told them Horton could move his arms and legs when he was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Mark Recchi scored two goals for the Bruins, who turned a big win into a blowout with four more goals in the final 8 1/2 minutes of the third period against beleaguered Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who won the first two games of the series in Vancouver.

The Bruins were one goal shy of equaling the Finals record of nine goals, set by the Detroit Red Wings in Game 2 of the 1936 series and matched by Toronto six years later in Game 5. The eight goals were the most scored in the Finals since Colorado topped Florida, 8-1 on June 6, 1996, in Game 2, according to STATS LLC.