Luongo also was pulled from Game 4 in Boston early in the third period after falling behind 4-0 on the heels of the Bruins' 8-1 victory in Game 3. Luongo has been a sieve in Boston, yet he has given up just two goals in three games in Vancouver.

Boston also will be without Nathan Horton for this Game 7. The power forward had the winning goal in the decisive games against Montreal and Tampa Bay, but is out for the series after getting a concussion in Game 3.

Horton attended Game 6, getting a standing ovation from the Boston crowd when he appeared on the overhead scoreboard in the first period. Boston hardly needed the motivation in a series filled with cheap shots and insults.

While Luongo's struggles have been limited to the East Coast, the Sedin twins finally showed life for perhaps the first time in the series. The NHL's last two scoring champions have done a monumental disappearing act in the finals, although they doubled their point total for the entire series when Daniel Sedin assisted on Henrik Sedin's backhand in the slot for just the second goal of the series by Vancouver's league-best power play, which dropped to 2 for 31.

Slideshow   Stanley Cup winners A look at the teams that have earned the right to hoist Lord Stanley's prize since 1965. NBCSports.com

Daniel Sedin, the NHL scoring champion, added an assist on Lapierre's goal, giving him four points in the series.

Thomas has turned in one of the stingiest performances by a goalie in finals history, yet his teammates couldn't beat Luongo at any important moment in Vancouver. The Canucks won the opener on a final-minute goal and finished Game 2 just 11 seconds into overtime.

"He's been in his zone through the whole playoffs," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "You can barely count on one hand the bad goals he's given up in the whole playoffs. We all know that teams that have won the Stanley Cup have had unbelievable goaltending. We feel like we've got that."

Jim Rogash / Getty Images The Week in Sports Pictures The nation grieved for those hurt, killed and affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. After one of the suspects was caught on Friday — following a day-long lockdown and manhunt — sports returned to Boston over the weekend.

The series has been bad-tempered from Game 1, when Vancouver's Alex Burrows escaped suspension for apparently biting the finger of Boston's Patrice Bergeron. The teams taunted each other about the incident — but the series got serious when Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome leveled Horton with a late hit.

Notes: Henrik Sedin hadn't played five games without a point since the end of the 2006-07 regular season. ... Boston D Dennis Seidenberg left the bench for several minutes in the third period, but returned. ... The Bruins won for just third time in 20 games when facing playoff elimination in a Game 6 while improving to 4-10 in finals elimination games. ... Boston extended a franchise record with its 24th playoff game of the spring. Vancouver matched its 1994 franchise record in its 24th postseason game. ... Home teams are 17-2 in the Stanley Cup finals since 2009.