Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

With a fortunate bounce and a flawless goalie, the Vancouver Canucks are heading back to Boston with the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Maxim Lapierre scored on a carom off the back boards with 15:25 to play, Roberto Luongo stopped 31 shots in a stirring shutout after getting pulled from his last game, and the Canucks moved to the brink of their first NHL championship with a 1-0 victory over Boston in Game 5 on Friday night.

Luongo helped Vancouver take a 3-2 series lead, posting his fourth shutout of the playoffs and second of the Stanley Cup finals after giving up 12 goals in less than four periods during two blowout losses in Boston.

“There was something about him before the game,” said Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa, who set up the only goal. “He just seemed so comfortable, so confident. He was vocal, and usually he’s not a vocal guy. We thought it would be something special.”

Game 6 is Monday night in Boston, and the Stanley Cup will be there.

The Canucks have scored six goals in five Stanley Cup finals games against Boston goalie Tim Thomas, yet they’re one victory away from winning it all.

“We’ve been through this, I don’t know how many times,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “We’re not a team that’s done anything the easy way, so in a way, it’s not a surprise we’re here. … Tonight was certainly not a good night for our power play, not a good night for our whole team in creating scoring chances.”

Neither team found an offensive flow in a Game 5 nail-biter, but Luongo kept Vancouver in it until Lapierre and Bieksa teamed up on a goal that set off a crazy celebration among tens of thousands of fans thronging downtown Vancouver.

Luongo was pulled from Game 4, but coach Alain Vigneault stuck with him for Game 5. The Olympic champion was only occasionally spectacular, but he still narrowly outplayed Thomas, who has received just two goals of support from his teammates in three games in Vancouver.

“(Luongo) knows that we believe in him,” Vancouver forward Alex Burrows said. “He’s unreal. We have so much confidence in him, and he doesn’t listen to what people outside this locker room say. We know he’s the best goalie in the league.”

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