Boston to make first finals appearance since '90

Boston edged Tampa Bay, 1-0, Friday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Boston.
The Bruins' will face Vancouver in the Stanley Cup finals. Game 1 is Wednesday in Vancouver at 8 p.m. on NBC for those of us in the states. CBC and RDS will also carry the game. Boston, winners of two Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972, are heading to the finals for the first time since 1990, while the Canucks are in their third finals appearance, and first since 1994.
Boston's Nathan Horton scored the game's only goal at 12:27 of the third period on a tip-in off a David Krejci pass past the Lightning's Dwayne Roloson, who made 37 saves. Andrew Ference had the secondary assist. Ference said the Bruins' had used it as a set play to break Tampa Bay's 1-3-1 trap, and it worked.
Horton was tabbed the No. 1 star, while Boston goalie Tim Thomas was the No. 2 star with 24 saves in a shutout. Roloson was the third star, as voted on by the media.
Although only one goal was scored, the game was exciting from the first face-off. Pierre, Edzo and Doc repeatedly stated that it's a shame someone had to lose, and I'm inclined to agree with them.
Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos showed plenty of character after returning from a puck to the nose. Thank God he was wearing a visor. Stamkos will have some work done.
Stamkos had only one shot, was a minus-one, but was on the ice for 18:57 and showed how bad he wanted to help his team. Stamkos' effort is what playoff hockey is all about.
Referees Dan O'Halloran and Steven Walkom let the players decide the game as no penalties were called. Usually the refs get blamed, but I think they made the right decision. I did see some penalties occur, but nothing blatant, and the guys in the stripes deserve to be congratulated.
The Bruins outshot the Lightning 38-24, and had a 15-9 advantage in the first. They put 14 shots on Roloson in the second, compared to 8 for Tampa Bay and had a 9-7 edge in the third.
Roloson had the tougher task than Thomas, in my opinion. Thomas was the second star because he won, but Roloson was very good. He stopped a breakaway and made far more tough saves than Thomas.
Take nothing away from Thomas, he put himself in good position and made the routine stops.
Boston kept putting the pressure on and had the puck in Tampa Bay's zone for lengthy periods of time using a strong cycle.
The Lightning had some good opportunities and my gut feeling was their were going to score late on a fluky goal, but the Bruins got the late goal, however, it was not fluky.
NOTES: Boston captain Zdeno Chara didn't touch the Prince of Wales Trophy, but had all his teammates and coaches gather around for a picture. For what it's worth, the Bruins seemed to be more amped up than the Canucks. Martin St. Louis and Tim Thomas, former college teammates, shared an embrace.