BruinsCanucks: 5 from the First

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By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.comVANCOUVERHere are five thoughts from the first period with the Bruins trailing the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena after the first 20 minutes of action.1)The first period felt very much like a pair of heavyweight hockey teams feeling each other out rather than making a strong move. The shots were 8-7 in favor of the Canucks with a few hard hits thrown by the Canucks at the Bs for good measure. Jannik Hansen decked Mark Recchi right at the end of the first period, and that was a pretty good indicator of what went down for the majority of time.2)The only downside of Tomas Kaberles game with the Bruins was in evidence as the Vancouver Canucks pounced all over the front of the net for their only goal of the period. Tomas Kaberle was nowhere near the front of the net as rebounds were being battled for and both Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra outnumbered Dennis Seidenberg in front of Tim Thomas. Kaberle tackling Torres after Malhotra had already put the puck in the net is a late on the draw, dont you think?3)Strange to Tomas Kaberle take a bevy of shots from the right point on Bostons power play early in the game. Scouting report is that he does the exact opposite most of the time, so not sure why they wouldnt work to get Zdeno Chara his one-timers. Stay turned to that one as Kaberle was badly off the mark with his shots.4)The Bruins had seven shots, but only one really good scoring chance on the PP. David Krejci and Milan Lucic used a little interior passing to get Nathan Horton a chance right by the left post, but Horton couldnt lift the puck over Roberto Luongos pads. Missing great chances like that can bite you against a good squad like the Canucks.5)A shot on net and a couple of hits for Johnny Boychuk in the first period. Id expect to see his game go up a notch or two now that Shane Hnidy is being thrown into the mix going forward. Love the signing of Hnidy, by the way: theres no downside to picking up a gritty blueliner with playoff experience and influence in the Boston dressing roomand for roughly the league veteran minimum at that.

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