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JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press/Press Association Images
Ice Ice Baby

Breaking the Ice: Burrows' OT strike gives Canucks 2-0 lead

For those of you who went to bed early last night, here’s what you missed in Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The game: Vancouver win 3-2 in overtime.

The series: The Canucks take a 2-0 lead. Game Three is in Boston tomorrow night.

The lowdown: In a mere 11 seconds, Alex Burrows used the strengths of the Boston Bruins’ two best defensive players against them.

In one electric moment, the Vancouver Canucks’ scrappy forward made sure he’ll be remembered for something other than his infamous bite in the Stanley Cup finals.

Everybody knew Burrows was fast. Just not this fast.

Burrows circled the net and scored a stunning goal right off the overtime faceoff, capping a three-point night and ending the Canucks’ 3-2 win with the second-speediest overtime goal in NHL playoff and finals history.

Vancouver took a 2-0 lead in the finals heading to Boston for Game 3 on Monday thanks to the brilliance of Burrows, who avoided suspension for this game after being accused of biting Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in Game 1 — but still endured criticism from fans and media.

“My parents don’t really like the negative press I get sometimes,” Burrows said. “It hurts them, not me.”

My dad told me I should go out and score some goals, because that’s what’s really going to hurt them.

Burrows scored on a power play in the first period, and he even set up Daniel Sedin’s tying goal midway through the third period with a sharp pass from the slot.

And after the overtime draw, Burrows received a pass from Sedin and streaked down the side, eluding Boston captain Zdeno Chara behind the net. He extended his stick for a wraparound shot, beating out-of-position goalie Tim Thomas for his second goal of the game.

“As soon as I got the puck, I knew I was going to fake a shot and then try to beat him,” Burrows said. “I lost the puck in front of Tim Thomas, but I got it back, and I got it in.”

Only four teams have rallied from an 0-2 series deficit to win the Stanley Cup finals in 46 tries, although Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins did it against Detroit in 2009.

Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic scored for the Bruins, who trailed 0-2 in the first round against Montreal — losing both games at home — before rallying to win the series in seven games.

“It was better today than in Game 1, and we’re going to have to keep that up if we want to score some more goals,” Lucic said.

“I think we lost the game ourselves,” Boston forward David Krejci said.

Obviously they played well, but we had the game in our hands and we just gave it away.

Vancouver is chasing the first NHL title in its four-decade franchise history after two previous failed trips to the finals. The Bruins haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1972, losing their last five finals appearances.

– Match report by AP