Photo: Bridget Samuels/Ikeastan Hockey Michael Ryder and the Bruins are in a familiar position going into Game 3 against the Canucks

BOSTON — Throughout the last couple of days, many hockey pundits have pointed out the fact that the home team has won Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals during the post lockout era.

But not only do the Bruins have that going for them going into Game 3 against the Vancouver Canucks tonight at TD Garden, they also have quite the track record themselves in the third game, going 3-0 in that situation.

Although its hard to take a look at the past after two heartbreaking defeats in the first two games up north, the Bruins are hoping that Game 3 Karma is on their side again.

“Game 3 is such a big game, especially today going up 3-0 or being down 2-1,” said foreard Brad Marchand. “So it’s obviously a do or die factor for us tonight and we just have to make sure we’re prepared for it. Maybe we can look at the past and build off it, but for the most part we just have to make sure we’re focused.”

If that situation as Marchand alluded to sounds familiar, well just go back to the Montreal series where the Bruins trailed two games to none before stealing two games at the Bell Centre and eventually won the series in seven games.

While the magnitude of this series is far different than their first round in against the Habs, the Bruins hope to take a page out of that series starting Monday.

“Obviously you want to look back at lessons that you’ve learned throughout the season, throughout the playoffs, and look back on experiences that you’ve had. And I think it’s good that we have experienced this situation before,” said forward Chris Kelly. “We’re used to it. It’s nothing new. Obviously it’s not a situation we want to be in, but we are. We know we have to come out and play well.”

“We’re not going to quit,” added Michael Ryder, Kelly’s linemate. “We know it’s still early in the series and it’s all on tonight. We’ve got to take it as a do or die situation, and we’ve got to come out hard and make sure we set the momentum early. We were down 2-0 to Montreal and we were on the road. So we have a little different advantage this time at home, and I think we’re ready for the task.”

There’s a lot at stake for the Bruins tonight. A win puts them right back in the series. A loss would most likely put them in position to wait another year to capture Lord’s Stanley, even though the Canucks nearly blew a 3-0 series lead to the Blackhawks in the first round.

But instead of talking about it, the Black and Gold need to prove that they belong on the same ice with Vancouver.

“If we win tonight it’s a whole different series,” Ryder said. “Right now we just have to take it one game at a time. We can’t look to far ahead and we’ve just to look at tonight. If we win it’s only 2-1 now.”