Game takes fans on ride of ecstasy

Pouring into the streets around the TD Garden in giddy celebration, triumphant Bruins fans reveled in the team’s dominant Game 6 victory last night that sent the hard-fought series to a climactic Game 7 tomorrow in Vancouver to decide the Stanley Cup.

As the team’s loyal, long-suffering fandom delighted in the decisive 5-2 win over the Canucks, their thoughts quickly turned to the ultimate goal, one that has eluded the franchise for nearly four decades. One more win, fans said in near disbelief, and the Bruins’ championship drought would finally, deliriously, wash away.

“Winning the Cup would be the biggest event as long as I’ve been alive,’’ exulted Dan Conde, a 39-year-old from Wilmington who was among the horde of fans celebrating on Canal Street, outside the Garden.

Continuing their dominance at home, the Bruins blitzed the Canucks with four goals in less than five minutes during the first period, sending fans into a frenzy at packed sports bars across the city.

The relentless barrage, which prompted the Canucks to pull their starting goalie, stunned even the most optimistic backers.

“I’m in shock,’’ said Sylvester Czado, 24, of Woonsocket, R.I., who watched the game with droves of fellow fans at a raucous Hurricane O’Reilly’s near the Garden. “I knew the Bruins were going to win, but 4-0 in a matter of 10 minutes?’’

The crowd exploded with joy after each Bruins goal, and cheered loudly for minutes afterward, as music boomed around them. The cheers grew louder as the goals piled up and fans sensed that on this night, in this place, the Bruins were not to be denied.

“There was no way the Canucks were going to come onto our ice and win the Cup,’’ said Jeff Richardson, a 31-year-old from Cranston, R.I., amid the throngs on Canal Street after the game. “They can’t light a candle in Boston.’’

As the minutes ticked away and the lead was safe, fans began bracing for tomorrow’s winner-take-all clash.

“I love the Bruins!’’ Marc Bouffard, 32, a lifelong Bruins fan from Toronto, said amid the sports bar bedlam. “They’re the best team. They are going to pull it off in seven, for sure.’’

Cristina Stefanescu, a 25-year-old who lives in the Back Bay, shared Bouffard’s confidence, even though Boston has yet to win in Vancouver.

“They clearly have it in them,’’ she said at Boston Beer Works near Fenway Park. “I think they work well under pressure. But anything can happen in the last game.’’

Alex Popp, 24, said he was not much of a fan before the Bruins began their magical playoff run. But as the crowd applauded the team’s dominating play, he felt as if he had bled black and gold for years.
Source :http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/06/14/fans_ride_waves_of_joy_toward_bruins_win/