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Chara's night has everything but a victory

Thursday, 06.02.2011 / 12:22 AM / 2011 Stanley Cup Final - Canucks v Bruins

By Corey Masisak - Staff Writer

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Chara's night has everything but a victory
Zdeno Chara led all players in Game 1 in ice time, played a multitude of roles for Boston and even won a faceoff. The only thing he couldn't do was get the Bruins a win.
VANCOUVER -- This night had a little bit of everything in it for Zdeno Chara.

He was deployed in front of the net on the power play, but also spent some time on the point when the Boston Bruins had a 5-on-3 in the second period. He logged more than 28 minutes overall and more than six minutes with his team shorthanded -- both totals were tops among players on both teams.

Chara also ended up taking a faceoff, and is now 2-for-2 in the circle during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Boston captain was also on the ice in the final minute when the Vancouver Canucks struck for the lone goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Here's some of what Chara had to say after the contest:

Q: Did you think the power play was better than it has been?

A: I thought so. I thought we moved the puck well. We had some good chances, some good shots. We just have to find a way to put it in.

Q: Have you been practicing those tips in front?

A: Yeah, obviously sometimes it is tough, but if I can I will try to do that.

Q: How did you see the final play take place?

A: It is some kind of a broke-down play on the blue line. I don't know if that was a turnover, but obviously they made a nice play hitting the late guy with a back-door guy coming to the net. It is unfortunate because it was a really close game.

Q: Was it shocking because you guys had been battling for so long and it looked like it was going to overtime?

A: Yeah, it was really close. I guess that's the way it is. Any time during a 60-minute (game) can be a deciding play, and that's what happened. It is just unfortunate that it happened in the last few seconds of the game.

Q: What is going to take for that to bounce back from this?

A: We will just regroup, stay focused and get ready for the next one.

Q: Did you think you were going to be able to get to that pass [on the goal]?

A: I thought for sure he was going to be shooting. He was so close and he made a nice play. I just slid and obviously he hit the back-door guy. It happened so quick I didn't know he had a step on our guy.

Q: Did that look like your best option there?

A: In that situation, you don't really have much time to react. He was coming full speed and they hit him kind of coming late into the zone. It was just one of those plays where you try to react as best you can. Instead of shooting, he made a nice play.

Q: Aside from the last few seconds, is this about what you expected?

A: Yeah, it was a close game -- a very close game. Both sides had a two-man advantage on the power play and didn't score. Great opportunities on the PP, lots of battles -- it was a great hockey game.

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