The absurd energy pulsating from Rogers Arena as the puck drops will reach all corners of the country tonight when the Vancouver Canucks clash with the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals.

With all the hyperbole, home-ice advantage has been key for both teams, as is natural.

But now we find ourselves in an odd place: the scores of the past two games in Boston were much more devastating for the Canucks than the scorelines of Game's 1 and 2 in Vancouver were for the Bruins.

The Canucks dropped Games 3 and 4 at TD Garden by a combined score of 12-1, as has been widely reported. The Canucks won the opening two games at home by a margin of 4-2.

Game 1 was won in the dying seconds; Game 2 was won in overtime.

We should know within the first five minutes whether home ice is an advantage tonight for the Canucks, who seem to repeat past mistakes and expect different results.

For evidence of this, we don't have to travel back too far in time.

The final is eerily similar to the Canucks Western Conference Quarterfinals against defending Stanley Cup champions the Chicago Blackhawks.

Looking poised for the sweep, the Canucks won the opening three games with a combined score of 9-5 before dropping Games 4 and 5 by a total of 12-2.

Another similarity: Canucks forward Raffi Torres put Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook out of Game 3 with a crushing hit behind the net.

In Game 3 of the finals, Vancouver's Aaron Rome knocked Boston's Nathan Horton – and himself with a four-game suspension – out of the playoffs.

Both Canuck offences spurred both Chicago and Boston to retaliate by baring down and winning games.

Horton's D partner Duncan Keith responded with a handful of points for Chicago in Games 4 and 5. The entire Bruins lineup responded by blowing the Canucks out the past two games.

But Vancouver responded, not without the help of OT victory in Games 7 against the Blackhawks.

And so here we are again, except the stakes are much higher and the scoreline's a little wider.

Games 3 and 4 of the finals, however, are different enough from the first two games to cause alarm.

In Games 1 and 2, Vancouver forced Boston into weak scoring chances, controlling the play from their defensive zone and forcing Tim Thomas to be stellar (how about his first three saves in Game 1?).

Vancouver defenseman Dan Hamhuis' absence hasn't helped much with the breakouts, nor have questions of replacement Andrew Alberts.

Nor have rumours surrounding injured Keith Ballard's exit for rookie Chris Tanev,

who started the season with the Manitoba Moose.

Failing to break out – either from lack of imagination with the puck or from tough Bruin fore-checking – is creating chances for a helpless Roberto Luongo. (Well, sometimes helpless.)

This failure to retain the puck, scrambling, losing battles to a bigger Boston team, is forcing penalties for both sides.

The difference is, with Vancouver's 1-for-22 powerplay performance in the finals,

the Bruins are even scoring short-handed goals.

The Canucks top line has failed to shift the momentum by truly testing Thomas, or asserting themselves.

Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler seem to have lost their ability to dig in, do the work and click – instead looking lost and then complaining about it.

Daniel notched two goals in Game 2; Henrik – zip.

Kesler has one point in four games and is minus three. Alex Burrows hasn't scored since his OT winner in Game 2.

But Vancouver has a bit of history on its side: home teams are 15-2 during the Stanley Cup finals since 2009. This year's final has been reduced to a best of three, with the next two games set in Vancouver.

The last time the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup final was in 1994 against the New York Rangers, which Vancouver lost in seven games.

The last time the Bruins won the Cup was in 1972 in six games over the Rangers.

To win this year, the Canucks will have to quit letting themselves be bullied by a

Bruins team hell-bent on playing old-school playoff hockey.

Vancouver still has a chance to impose a new school.