VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- While the Boston Bruins beelined across the ice to mob him at the buzzer, Tim Thomas tapped both goalposts, sank to his knees and rubbed the ice in front of his empty goal.

Thomas drew a virtual line in his crease throughout these crazy, contentious Stanley Cup finals, and Boston's brilliant goalie just wouldn't allow the Vancouver Canucks to cross it whenever it really mattered.

After 39 years without a championship, the Bruins ripped the Cup -- and several thousand hearts -- out of a Canadian city that has waited four decades itself for one sip.

Thomas was just too good, and the Bruins are the NHL's best.

BOSTON -- The tattered, kitschy Bruins jacket has been moving around the Boston locker room for the past few months, going to the most valuable player in every victory.

It belonged to Nathan Horton when he went down with a serious concussion two days earlier in the Stanley Cup finals. He showed up in the Bruins' locker room Wednesday night, delighting his teammates by putting the jacket on Rich Peverley.

That strange, old jacket bought on eBay has become the Bruins' most valuable trophy.

After two dominant games in Boston, the Bruins are halfway to winning a bigger, shinier prize.