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Bruins back Thomas after Luongo's verbal swipe

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BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins tried to push the mute button on the controversy over Roberto Luongo's verbal swipe at Tim Thomas.

So what if Vancouver's goalie claimed he would have stopped the shot that beat Boston's most important player and gave the Canucks a 1-0 win Friday night and a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup finals? That game's over. The focus, the Bruins said Saturday, is on keeping their season alive in Game 6 on Monday night.

And they almost succeeded in lowering the volume.

But on the next to last question of his news conference on Saturday, a poker-faced coach Claude Julien couldn't resist.

"Let's put it this way," he said, fresh off his cross-continent flight. "I don't think Timmy is going to make much of that comment (by Luongo). I think you guys (reporters) are making more out of it than Timmy will. Either way, his stats, you know, are proof itself. He's given up six goals in five games.

"The guy that made the comment, I'm not quite sure how many he let in. I think you guys have a good idea, so I don't think he (Thomas) is going to lose sleep over that."

That would be 14 goals, coach.

That also matters much less than another number, 1, as in the one game by which the Canucks lead the series and the one win they need to claim their first NHL title.

"It's all about wins and losses this time of year," Boston forward Shawn Thornton said. "Some people like to chirp. Some people don't. I think, as a group, we're trying to take the high road. It's not really our M.O."

Vancouver won Game 5 after Thomas skated out of the crease toward Kevin Bieksa as the Canucks defenseman shot from the right point. The puck went wide but ricocheted off the backboards to Maxim Lapierre to the left of the crease. Thomas got back in time to block the shot, but the puck rebounded into the net with 15:25 to go.

Luongo watched it all from the other end of the ice.

"It's not hard (to stop) if you're playing in the paint," he said. "It's an easy save for me, but if you're wandering out, that's going to happen."

On Saturday, before boarding the plane for Boston, Luongo backed off a bit.

"I said also that he might make some saves that I don't, so I was just saying on that particular play I would have played it different and that's the difference between me and him," Luongo said.

But then he tossed out a parting shot.

"I've been pumping his tires ever since the series started," he said, "and I haven't heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that's the way it is."

Actually, after the Bruins won 8-1 and 4-0 to tie the series at 2, Thomas said he felt sorry for Luongo, who was pulled from Game 4.

"I've been there and I probably will be there again," he said. "So I have some sympathy when that happens, but, at the same time, I just have to focus on what I'm doing."

During the regular season, Thomas was first in the NHL in goals against average and Luongo was second. In save percentage, Thomas was first and Luongo was third. In the postseason, Luongo is first with four shutouts and Thomas is second with three.

And they're finalists, along with Pekka Rinne of Nashville, for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the league's best goalie.

"Timmy's unbelievable for us," Bruins forward Chris Kelly said. "We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for him."

The Canucks have picked on Thomas before.

Earlier in the series, coach Alain Vigneault complained about the goalie's tendency to leave his crease and then expect to get right back in it without an opponent getting in his way.

So why do they keep taking jabs and risk angering the feisty netminder who slashed Alex Burrows in the leg in Game 4 after the Vancouver forward hit his stick?

"I just think he's playing so well right now and that's just how they decided to go about things," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said.

Luongo's jibe could give the Bruins more incentive to win Game 6.

"It's amazing how they need all this external motivation and they are looking for stuff," Bieksa said. "For us, we have it all in (the locker) room, we have it all in the Stanley Cup and that's all we need."

But Julien feels the Bruins don't need that to motivate them, not with their season on the line.

"We're down to the wire here and have to focus on our game and what it means, a lot more than (on) what is being said," he said. "Anybody can say what they want. Right now my focus is on getting this team back in this series."

Luongo isn't wasting much time either thinking about the fallout from his comment. But, for him, all the noise surrounding his brief poke at Thomas is hardly surprising.

"We're in the Stanley Cup finals, so every little thing is blown out of proportion," Luongo said. "He has his style and I have mine, so that's how it goes."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Horton surprises Bruins with visit after Game 4

Updated: June 9, 2011, 2:19 AM ETBy Chris Forsberg
ESPNBoston.com
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BOSTON -- Injured Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton made a surprise appearance in the locker room after the team's 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Horton, who suffered a severe concussion after a late hit from Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome in the first period of Boston's Game 3 triumph on Monday, is sidelined for the remainder of the season, but unbeknownst to his teammates, trekked to the Garden in order to hand off the MVP jacket the team had hung in his locker in his honor after Monday's win.

Clearly, an injured Nathan Horton is the Boston Bruins driving force as they battle for the Stanley Cup, Chris Forsberg writes. Story

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Horton entered as coach Claude Julien was addressing his players. He spoke briefly before handing off the old vinyl jacket to Rich Peverley, who scored two of Boston's four goals Wednesday while skating in place of Horton on the Bruins' top line.

"It was very emotional," said Peverley, wearing the jacket as he addressed reporters. "He came in, spoke a little bit. To be able to fill in for him, like I said, we did the job tonight, but I thought it was a whole team effort."

Players said Horton was in good spirits and just seeing him moving around was an encouraging sign for a team that wasn't sure when it would see their fallen teammate again. The Bruins are headed back to Vancouver with the series tied 2-2 for Game 5 on Friday.

"I was very, very happy to see Nathan up and around in the locker room," goalie Tim Thomas said. "I wasn't exactly sure of his status. I'd heard that he was OK, but ... when I personally got to see him in the locker room, I was incredibly happy and it gave me a big boost.

"He was there to pass the jacket on. We didn't pass the jacket on the last game with him gone. I think the team would have been happy leaving it with Horty for the rest of this series, but he wanted to give it away and keep the tradition going that we'd started."

"I didn't know he was here, I don't think a lot of guys did," Shawn Thornton said. "He's such a good guy, such a positive influence in this room and the team. He makes everyone in here feel better about themselves, he really does. He's been such a good teammate all year, so to see him come in the room, I'm pretty sure everyone got a pretty good kick out of that. We're very happy to see him, see him walking around and doing OK."

Thornton said Horton didn't say much other than telling the team, "Great job," before handing off the jacket.

Brad Marchand admitted it was a "sigh of relief" to see Horton around the team again.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said before Wednesday's game that he had not spoken with forward Horton, but had exchanged text messages with Horton's wife.

"There's no update," Chiarelli said. "Everything remains the same today. His wife texted me back, saying that he's sleeping, feeling better and he'll get back to me, but I haven't heard from him yet today. But he was resting peacefully and the headaches were getting better."

Horton's agent, Paul Krepelka, said Horton had been resting at home during Game 4 with "typical" concussion symptoms, saying Horton has headaches and is fatigued. But he evidently improved enough to make the surprise appearance.

Krepelka said Horton has heard about all the well wishes from Bruins fans and wanted to express his gratitude.

Bruins legend Bobby Orr was Wednesday night's honorary pregame captain and waved a No. 18 Horton flag.

Vancouver GM Mike Gillis talked with Chiarelli on Wednesday afternoon and expressed the organization's well wishes for Horton.

"Mike Gillis pulled me aside at the GM meeting today and said, 'Aaron wants you to know that he's going to reach out to Nathan and he's very sorry for what he did.' It was a nice gesture," Chiarelli said.

Chiarelli also said he believes Rome, who was suspended for four games by the league, has reached out to Horton via a third party.

"I suspect that he maybe has tried. I know he knows Shawn Thornton. Maybe he did through Shawn," Chiarelli said. "I know when (Zdeno Chara) got into the stuff with (Max) Pacioretty, he tried to reach out through another player. That's generally what happens."

Rome participated in the pregame skate at TD Garden with his teammates Wednesday. He wasn't in the Canucks' locker room after the workout, however. Rome still hasn't publicly commented on his devastating hit.

General managers from around the NHL met Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics, including changes to Rule 48, which addesses head shots and blindside contact.

Chiarelli would not get into specifics because the amendment still has to go before the competition committee and the Board of Governors, but said there would be an expansion on the restrictions of head shots.

"I think it was a huge step from 48 in its initial form, which I thought was a huge step," Chiarelli said.

Chris Forsberg covers the Bruins for ESPNBoston.com. Information from ESPNBoston.com's Joe McDonald and James Murphy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Chris Forsberg on Twitter: @ESPNForsberg

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