Canucks don't consider themselves Cup villains

BOSTON (AP) - The last time Henrik Sedin looked, the Vancouver Canucks' hats were blue, not black.

The Canucks don't see themselves as the villains in the Stanley Cup finals, even after a series of contentious plays that have inspired anger and indignation in the Boston Bruins heading into Game 4 on Wednesday.

Defenseman Aaron Rome's big hit on Boston's Nathan Horton in Game 3 was just the latest incident in a postseason that included Alex Burrows' infamous finger-bite in the series opener last week.

The Canucks work hard and strive to hit hard after being criticized for soft play in past postseasons, but they insist they don't play dirty.

"I know the guys we have in the room," said Sedin, the Vancouver captain. "We're honest guys. We're hardworking guys. We're a tight group. If people on the outside say what they want to say, that's fine. I don't think people see us like that. In Boston, maybe."

Still, the postseason has featured several ugly moments for the Canucks.

Raffi Torres delivered a nasty hit on Chicago's Brent Seabrook in Game 3 of the first round, and the Blackhawks used it as a rallying point to win the next three games in the series before the Canucks closed out the defending champions in Game 7.

Vancouver's next two series against Nashville and San Jose were fiercely competitive, and the Canucks didn't back down. Before their run to the Presidents' Trophy this season, Vancouver often was thought to be too finesse-oriented and not tough enough to win in the crucible of playoff hockey.

The finals have been filled with trouble for the Canucks. After Burrows escaped suspension following the opener, Vancouver agitator Maxim Lapierre infuriated the Bruins in Game 2 by pointing his finger at Patrice Bergeron's mouth to taunt the Boston center.

Boston's Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi returned the gesture to the Canucks in Game 3, yet Horton's severe concussion and Rome's subsequent ejection and four-game suspension overshadowed it.

The Canucks have learned they can't win a Stanley Cup with clean hands, so they're not backing down from dirty work.

"I don't think we put too much stock into what people have thought of us in terms of good or bad guys," said center Manny Malhotra, who played nearly 15 minutes Monday night in his second game back from a serious eye injury. "We understand there's going to be a lot of hoopla around the team, whatever people want to call us. The biggest thing that matters is what we're saying in the room."

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THE JACKET: The Bruins have awarded a vintage team jacket to the player contributing most to each game during the playoffs, copying the age-old hockey tradition of passing around silly trophies or apparel signifying hard work - everything from hard hats to sledgehammers.

The Bruins jacket was in Nathan Horton's locker after Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, and that's where it's likely to stay until Horton returns to the dressing room.

"It's his job to give it away now, so we thought it was appropriate to leave it with him," Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said.

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POWERLESS PLAY: Weren't the Boston Bruins supposed to be the team with the broken power play?

Instead, the Vancouver Canucks' vaunted power play has lost its way in the Stanley Cup finals.

Led by the Sedin twins' peerless playmaking, the Canucks had the NHL's best power play during the regular season and again in the postseason until hitting a 1-for-16 slump in the first three games against the Bruins.

Vancouver's power play went 0 for 8 in its embarrassing 8-1 loss in Game 3, yet the Sedins seem certain nothing is broken.

"Mistakes, that's the only thing," captain Henrik Sedin said. "We're not moving enough. We've been unpredictable all year because of the way we've been moving on the power play. Right now, we're moving the puck, but we're not moving players into their box. That's what we need to do."

After entering the finals in a 5-for-61 skid, the Bruins' power play has outscored Vancouver's man-advantage unit, getting two goals in Game 3. Boston also scored two short-handed goals against the Canucks' power play.

Vancouver's game changes when it can't get production from its most dangerous offensive weapon. While the Canucks were right behind Boston among the NHL's best 5-on-5 teams during the regular season, they relied on the power play for 72 of their league-best 262 goals.

"We give them all the momentum," said Henrik Sedin, who hasn't been his usual sharp self on faceoffs. "We kill all the momentum we get from the power plays. You're not going to score on every power play, but you need to get some for your team. If you're on the bench and watching them score on the power play, that's a killer."

Defenseman Dan Hamhuis, a power-play contributor, has missed the last two games with an injury, but the Canucks won't ascribe their struggles to one player - and besides, the Sedins clearly run Vancouver's power play.

Vigneault doesn't want to overreact to the Canucks' struggles, realizing the Sedins and Ryan Kesler haven't lost their skills in a six-day span. Kesler appears to be struggling with an undisclosed injury, although he made no excuses after spending roughly 45 minutes with team trainers following Game 3.

"We're not that far away," Vigneault said. "We're pretty close. We're making some good things out there. Sometimes when it's time to shoot, we're passing, and when it's time to pass, we're shooting. We're just a little bit off."

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BALLARD'S TURN: Although Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault wouldn't confirm it, Keith Ballard appears to be the next man up in the Canucks' quest to finish the playoffs before they run out of defensemen.

Ballard is the logical choice to replace Aaron Rome in the Canucks' lineup for Game 4 on Wednesday night. Ballard said he hadn't been told whether he would play.

"I would prepare the same way either way," said Ballard, who was injured Boston wing Nathan Horton's teammate in Florida during the previous two seasons. "I'm ready to go whenever I get a chance."

Ballard is scoreless with a minus-2 rating in nine playoff games, and he sat out the first three games of the Stanley Cup finals as a healthy scratch. When the Canucks lost Dan Hamhuis to an apparently serious injury in the finals opener, Vigneault passed over Ballard in favor of Andrew Alberts, who has played the last two games.

Ballard is likely to get a chance to start earning the $4.2 million he's making this season. Although the Canucks have arguably the NHL's deepest defense corps, rookie defenseman Chris Tanev is the only other spare part available to Vigneault.

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NOTES: In Game 3, the Bruins became just the third team to win a finals game by at least seven goals since NHL teams began competing exclusively for the Stanley Cup in 1927. Pittsburgh's 8-0 victory over Minnesota on May 25, 1991, is the biggest blowout in finals history. The Bruins also scored two short-handed goals in Game 3, the first finals team to do so since Minnesota on May 23, 1991, in the same series against the Penguins. ... Bad news for the Bruins if the series goes seven games: Home teams are 14-2 in the Stanley Cup finals since 2009 and 26-8 since 2006. ... Canucks G Roberto Luongo allowed eight goals for just the third time in his career. Vigneault offered to take him out before the third period, but Luongo declined. He gave up three goals on the Bruins' final three shots. ... Weird stats: The Bruins are 10-4 when outshot in the postseason, and they're 9-1 when they score the first goal.