Tag: St. Louis Blues

Stanley Cup Final Game 7 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

Game 7 – Series Tied 3-3

 

Game Recap:

Going into Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins will look to win their first ever Final Game 7 at home while the St. Louis Blues will look to win their first ever Stanley Cup in their 52 year history. To start the game both teams would play with a very high tempo, but it would be the Blues getting the early jump, but the Bruins would generate some of the better scoring opportunities. Throughout the majority of the first period it would be the Bruins dominating on the shot counter, but late in the period it would be the Blues getting a strong shift from Ryan O’Reilly and Sammy Blais as they would force the play in the Bruins zone that would allow Jay Bouwmeester to get off the point shot that O’Reilly would deflect and go right through Tuukka Rask for the first goal of the game. Then with 7.9 seconds off of a bad line change by Brad Marchand, Alex Pietrangelo would go into the Bruins zone unattended and would receive a beautiful pass from Jaden Schwartz as he would drive the net and backhand it past Rask to give the Blues a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

 

Going into the second period the Blues looked to maintain their two goal lead over the Bruins, and they would play with a layered defense to clog up the neutral zone against the Bruins which would work for the most part as Jordan Binnington was able to see all shots that came his way when the Bruins would get into the Blues zone. The Blues would keep the Bruins off the board in the second period, and will need to continue their tough play and keep the play out of their zone for the final 20 minutes of this game.

 

In the third period it would be very much the same as the second period as the Blues would continue playing their game against the Bruins, and while the Bruins would generate some solid chances, Binnington would stand tall and shut door on them. Then a little past the 11 minute mark Vladimir Tarasenko would work hard to get to the puck deep in the Bruins zone and would take a quick look before getting the puck and would feed Brayden Schenn in the slot who would one time it to make it a commanding 3-0 lead for the Blues. Then with less than five minutes left in the game David Perron would feed Zach Sanford in front of the net to seal the deal for the Blues and give them the 4-0 lead. However, with a little over two minutes left the Bruins would pull Tuukka Rask and Matt Grzelcyk would score to cut the Blues lead to three, but it would be too little too late as the Blues hold on for the 4-1 win to become the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions.

 

Lineups:

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Sammy Blais — Tyler Bozak — Pat Maroon

Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn — Joel Edmundson

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Robert Thomas, Robert Bortuzzo, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso, Jordan Nolan

 

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk — John Moore

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, David Backes, Connor Clifton

Injured: Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

First Period:

Blues Penalty – 7:57 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Blues Goal – 16:47 – Ryan O’Reilly (8) from Jay Bouwmeester (7) and Alex Pietrangelo (16)

Blues Goal – 19:52 – Alex Pietrangelo (3) from Jaden Schwartz (7)

 

End of 1st – STL – 2       BOS – 0

Shots              04                12

Faceoffs         07                11

Hits               14                  11

PP                 0/0                 0/1

 

Second Period:

N/A

 

End of 2nd – STL – 2        BOS – 0

Shots               10                 23

Faceoffs          17                 18

Hits                 27                  21

PP                   0/0                  0/1

 

Third Period:

Blues Goal – 11:25 – Brayden Schenn (5) from Vladimir Tarasenko (6) and Jaden Schwartz (8)

Blues Goal – 15:22 – Zach Sanford (1) from David Perron (9) and Ryan O’Reilly (15)

Bruins Goal – 17:50 – Matt Grzelcyk (4) from David Krejci (12)

 

End of 3rd – STL – 4         BOS – 1

Shots              20                   33

Faceoffs        25                    26

Hits               36                     27

PP                 0/0                    0/1

 

Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues for becoming the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions!

 

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 6 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Game 6 – STL Leads 3-2

 

Game Recap:

Coming into Game 6 in St. Louis the Blues will look to close out the Stanley Cup Final at home with the decisive fourth victory, but the Boston Bruins are highly motivated to send the series back to Boston for Game 7  after the controversial ending to Game 5. In the first period to start the game both teams would trade chances, but then penalties would come into play as at first the Bruins would get a delay of game penalty when Sean Kuraly would accidently shoot the puck over the boards. The Blues would not be able to capitalize on the powerplay, and then would take not one, but two penalties themselves to give the Bruins a two man advantage that would see David Pastrnak feed Brad Marchand the one timer for the first goal of the game and give the Bruins the 1-0 lead.

 

In the second period the Blues would come out with a bit more step in their game, and would draw two penalties against the Bruins for two powerplays that saw them control the tempo very well. However, the Blues would not be able to capitalize on either opportunity, but they would continue their strong play. The Bruins would be able to hold off the Blues off of the hard work of Tuukka Rask and take their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

 

Going into the third period the Bruins would grow their lead to two when Brandon Carlo would get off a point shot that would take a rough bounce off the ice and squeak past Jordan Binnington to make it 2-0 for the Bruins early in the third. Then in the midway point of the third, Karson Kuhlman would rip a wicked wrist shot past Binnington to make it 3-0 for the Bruins as they would really push this game out of reach for the Blues. However, the Blues would respond off of an offensive zone faceoff when Ryan O’Reilly would get the rebound in front of the net and we would think Rask would make the save, but Toronto would call down to say that the puck went into the net and the Blues get back into this game as O’Reilly would be credited with his seventh of the playoffs and cut the Bruins lead to two. But the Bruins would not relent as Sean Kuraly would force a turnover behind the Blues net as he would get the puck to Brad Marchand who would feed David Pastrnak the puck would then make his move and get the puck over Binnington to regain the three goal lead, and then to seal the deal Zdeno Chara would lob the puck over into the Blues net to make it 5-1 to seal the Bruins Game 6 victory and force Game 7 on Wednesday night.

 

Lineups:

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman

Marcus Johansson – Charlie Coyle – Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom – Sean Kuraly – Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo

John Moore – Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, David Backes

Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (concussion protocol), Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

Sammy Blais — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso, Jordan Nolan

Injured: None

Suspended: Ivan Barbashev

 

First Period:

Bruins Penalty – 2:42 – Sean Kuraly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Blues Penalty – 7:17 – Brayden Schenn 2 minutes for Boarding

Blues Penalty – 8:19 – Ryan O’Reilly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Bruins PPG – 8:40 – Brad Marchand (9) from David Pastrnak (10) and Torey Krug (16)

Bruins Penalty – 18:21 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Interference

 

End of 1st – BOS – 1       STL – 0

Shots              11                10

Faceoffs         07                10

Hits               10                  09

PP                 1/2                 0/2

 

Second Period:

Bruins Penalty – 9:11 – Brad Marchand 2 minutes for Tripping

Bruins Penalty – 13:43 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Tripping

 

End of 2nd – BOS – 1        STL – 0

Shots               20                 19

Faceoffs          17                 22

Hits                 19                  23

PP                   1/2                  0/4

 

Third Period:

Bruins Goal  -2:31 – Brandon Carlo (2) from Jake DeBrusk (7)

Bruins Goal – 10:15 – Karson Kuhlman (1) from David Krejci (11)

Blues Goal – 12:01 – Ryan O’Reilly (7) from Alex Pietrangelo (15) and David Perron (8)

Bruins Goal – 14:06 – David Pastrnak (9) from Brad Marchand (14) and Sean Kuraly (6)

Bruins ENG – 17:41 – Zdeno Chara (2) from unassisted

Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Slashing

Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Roughing

Bruins Penalty – 19:38 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Roughing

Blues Penalty – 19:43 – Robert Bortuzzo 2 minutes for Cross Checking

 

End of 3rd – BOS – 5         STL – 1

Shots              32                   29

Faceoffs        26                    37

Hits               27                     29

PP                 1/2                    0/4

 

Next Up:

Game 7 – Series Tied 3-3

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 5 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

 

Game Recap:

Coming into Game 5 would be the question as to whether or not Zdeno Chara would suit up for the Boston Bruins after taking a puck to the jaw in Game 4 that would force him to miss the second half of the second period and entire third period. For the Bruins they would get Big Z for an important Game 5 against the visiting St. Louis Blues and he would play 5:55 in the first period. The Bruins would play off of that buzz of having Chara in the lineup and would outshoot the Blues 17-8 in the first, but would not get anything past Jordan Binnington who would stand tall in net.

 

Heading into the second period the Blues would only need 55 seconds as Ryan O’Reilly would backhand a shot past Tuukka Rask to give the Blues the first lead of the game off of an amazing offesive zone rush by Blues to make the goal happen. The Blues would come close near the end of the period to extend their lead, but it would be David Krejci sliding through the crease to prevent Alex Pietrangelo from doing so.

 

In the third period we would see the momentum rock back and forth between the two teams, but midway through the period the Blues would strike after a controversial play that would see Tyler Bozak trip Noel Acciari (sorry Aryan, it was a trip), but because the officials did not call it and play continued which would lead to David Perron scoring to make it 2-0 for the Blues. However, an irate Bruins team would respond during a delayed penalty against the Blues when Jake DeBrusk would score to cut the deficit back to one. The Bruins would force a late push, but the Blues would hold their ground and win the game 2-1 and take the 3-2 series lead going into Game 6 on Sunday night.

 

Lineups:

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Sammy Blais

Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn , Ville Husso

Injured: Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

 

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

John Moore — Connor Clifton

Steven Kampfer

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Karson Kuhlman, David Backes, Matt Grzelcyk

Injured: Chris Wagner (concussion protocol), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

First Period:

Blues Penalty – 6:27 – Vince Dunn 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Bruins Penalty – 17:22 – Brad Marchand 2 minutes for Slashing

 

End of 1st – STL – 0       BOS – 0

Shots              08                17

Faceoffs         11                04

Hits               17                  21

PP                 0/1                 0/1

 

Second Period:

Blues Goal – :55 – Ryan O’Reilly (6) from Zach Sanford (3) and Alex Pietrangelo (14)

Blues Penalty – 9:25 – David Perron 2 minutes for Interference

 

End of 2nd – STL – 1        BOS – 0

Shots               14                 25

Faceoffs          24                 15

Hits                 29                  35

PP                   0/1                  0/2

 

Third Period:

Blues Penalty – 3:09 – Alexander Steen 2 minutes for Interference

Blues Goal – 10:36 – David Perron (7) from Ryan O’Reilly (14)

Bruins Goal – 13:32 – Jake DeBrusk (4) from Torey Krug (15)

 

End of 3rd – STL – 2         BOS – 1

Shots              21                   39

Faceoffs        38                    26

Hits               34                     43

PP                 0/1                    0/3

 

Next Up:

Game 6 – STL Leads 3-2

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 4 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Game 4 – BOS Leads 2-1

 

Game Recap:

Coming into Game 4 the St. Louis Blues are looking to erase the bad taste in their mouth from Game 3 when the Boston Bruins came into their home and dismantled them 7-2 to take the 2-1 series lead, and the Blues would deliver early when Ryan O’Reilly would pick up the rebound and wrap it around the net and past Tuukka Rask 43 seconds into the game for the quick 1-0 lead. Then later in the period the Bruins would respond as Charlie Coyle would pick up a Zdeno Chara rebound in front of the net and get it past Jordan Binnington to tie the game at one a piece. However, the game would not remain tied for long as the Blues would continue pushing and it would be Vladimir Tarasenko picking up an Alex Pietrangelo rebound in the slot and wristing it past Rask to reclaim the lead 2-1.

 

In the second period we would have a slew of penalties with the first two creating a lot of momentum for the Blues, but no powerplay goals would be scored. However, while the Blues were on their second powerplay opportunity the Bruins would create an offensive opportunity that would see Brandon Carlo score his first of the playoffs when he would one time the rebound past Binnington who had no chance on the play. Going into the second period it would be tied 2-2.

 

In the third period we would see both teams trade powerplay opportunities that would once again see no one take advantage of them, but it would be the Blues half way through the period as Ryan O’Reilly would score his second of the game to break to 2-2 tie and give the Blues the lead back. then with the goalie pulled Brayden Schenn would strip the puck off of the Bruins defender and send the puck into the empty net to ice the game at 4-2, and tie the series at two a piece.

 

Lineups:

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

John Moore — Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) Chris Wagner (concussion protocol), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Sammy Blais

Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn — Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso

Injured: Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

 

First Period:

Blues Goal – :43 – Ryan O’Reilly (4) from Zach Sanford (2) and Vince Dunn (6)

Bruins Goal – 13:14 – Charlie Coyle (9) from Zdeno Chara (4)

Blues Goal – 15:30 – Vladimir Tarasenko (11) from Alex Pietrangelo (12) and Brayden Schenn (7)

 

End of 1st – BOS – 1       STL – 2

Shots              09                13

Faceoffs         15                13

Hits               16                  24

PP                 0/0                 0/0

 

Second Period:

Bruins Penalty – 5:47 – Charlie Coyle 2 minutes for High Sticking

Blues Penalty – 8:31 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Bruins Penalty – 13:53 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Illegal Check to the Head

Bruins SHG – 14:19 – Brandon Carlo (1) from Patrice Bergeron (8) and Brad Marchand (13)

 

End of 2nd – BOS – 2        STL – 2

Shots               18                 25

Faceoffs          24                 25

Hits                 29                  32

PP                   0/1                  0/2

 

Third Period:

Bruins Penalty – 2:08 – Danton Heinen 2 minutes from Tripping

Blues Penalty – 6:42 – Jay Bouwmeester 2 minutes for High Sticking

Blues Goal – 10:38 – Ryan O’Reilly (5) from Alex Pietrangelo (13) and Carl Gunnarsson (2)

Blues ENG – 18:31 – Brayden Schenn (4) from unassisted

Blues Penalty – 19:34 – Jay Bouwmeester 2 minutes for Elbowing

Bruuins Penalty – 13:34 – Torey Krug 2 minutes for Slashing

 

End of 3rd – BOS – 2         STL – 4

Shots              23                   38

Faceoffs        31                    34

Hits               41                     44

PP                 0/2                    0/3

 

Next Up:

Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 3 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

Game 3 – Series Tied 1-1

 

Game Recap:

Heading into the Game 3 the St. Louis Bues come home with the momentum in the corner after taking Game 2 in boston to even the series with the Bruins. The game would start off physically, and would see the Blues start with five straight shots, but when they had the chance to take the lead while on the powerplay they failed to do so. The Bruins on the other hand would not let their opportunity be squandered as Patrice Bergeron would redirect a Torey Krug point shot past Jordan Binnington to take the 1-0 lead. That goal would open the flood gates as the Bruins would score two more this period starting with Marcus Johansson feeding Charlie Coyle a one timer to make it a two goal lead. Then Sean Kuraly would shoot one right through the five hole of Binnington to make it 3-0. However, the Blues would challenge as it seemed Joakim Nordstrom was in the Blues’s zone before the puck was, but after review it was shown that Joel Edmundson pushed the puck back into the zone thus nullifying the offsides call.

 

Going into the second period the Bruins would strike again in the first minute of the period as David Pastrnak would collect the rebound in front of the net and backhand it past Binnington to make it 4-0. However, the Blues would finally get on the board as Ivan Barbashev would net his second of the playoffs to cut the lead to three, but the Bruins would respond again on their third powerplay as Torey Krug would shoot one past Binnington to get their four goal lead back and would force Craig Berube to put Jake Allen in net for the Blues as the Bruins lead 5-1 going into the second intermission.

 

In the third period things would get very chippy as we would see three penalties called in the first 91 seconds. Then Zdeno Chara would take an ill advised roughing call which would lead to a Colton Parayko powerplay goal to cut the Bruins lead to three. Then late in the period Noel Acciari would score on the empty net to ice the game, but Alex Pietrangelo would take a stupid slashing penalty and the Bruins would go a perfect 4 for 4 on the powerplay when Marcus Johansson would score on the powerplay off of the one timer from Torey Krug. Boston would win the game 7-2 to take the 2-1 series lead.

 

Lineups:

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

John Moore — Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Patrick Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robby Fabbri

Zach Sanford — Ivan Barbashev — Alexander Steen

Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Joel Edmundson — Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn , Ville Husso

Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body), Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

Suspended: Oskar Sundqvist

 

First Period:

Bruins Penalty – 1:02 – Jake DeBrusk 2 minutes for Kneeing

Blues Penalty – 10:26 – David Perron 2 minutes for Interference

Bruins PPG – 10:47 – Patrice Bergeron (9) from Torey Krug (12) and Jake DeBrusk (6)

Bruins Penalty – 14:22 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Roughing

Blues Penalty – 14:22 – Ivan Barbashev 2 minutes Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Bruins Goal – 17:40 – Charlie Coyle (8) from Marcus Johansson (7) and Danton Heinen (6)

Bruins Goal – 19:50 – Sean Kuraly (4) from Joakim Nordstrom (4)

Blues Penalty – 19:50 – Bench (David Perron) 2 minutes for Delay of Game

 

End of 1st – BOS – 3       STL – 0

Shots              12                08

Faceoffs         12                08

Hits               16                  14

PP                 1/1                 0/1

 

Second Period:

Bruins PPG – :41 – David Pastrnak (8) from Torey Krug (13) and Patrice Bergeron (6)

Bruins Penalty – 7:37 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Slashing

Bruins Penalty – 7:37 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Blues Penalty – 7:37 – Pat Maroon 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Blues Goal – 11:05 – Ivan Barbashev (3) from Zach Sanford (1) and Alexander Steen (3)

Blues Penalty – 11:41 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for High Sticking

Bruins PPG – 12:12 – Torey Krug (2) from Brad Marchand (12 and Patrice Bergeron (7)

 

End of 2nd – BOS – 5        STL – 1

Shots               20                 18

Faceoffs          21                 17

Hits                 25                  27

PP                   3/3                  0/2

 

Third Period:

Blues Penalty – :54 – David Perron 2 minutes for Roughing

Bruins Penalty – :54 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Cross Checking

Bruins Penalty – 1:31 – Brandon Carlo 2 minutes for Interference

Bruins Penalty – 5:18 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Roughing

Blues PPG – 5:24 – Colton Parayko (2) from Ryan O’Reilly (13) and Tyler Bozak (7)

Bruins Penalty – 6:04 – Jake DeBrusk 2 minutes for Delay of Game

Bruins ENG – 18:12 – Noel Acciari (2) from Joakim Nordstrom (5)

Blues Penalty – 18:12 – Alex Pietrangelo 2 minutes for Slashing

Bruins PPG – 1:35 – Marcus Johansson (4) from Torey Krug (14) and Connor Clifton (3)

 

End of 3rd – BOS – 7         STL – 2

Shots              24                   29

Faceoffs        30                    24

Hits               29                     35

PP                 4/4                    1/5

 

Next Up:

Game 4 – BOS Leads 2-1

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 2 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

Game 2 – BOS Leads 1-0

 

Game Recap:

Going into Game 2 the St. Louis Blues are looking to take away the home ice advantage from the Boston Bruins and they came out hot until Sammy Blais would be called for goalie interference, and the Bruins would take advantage as Charlie Coyle would score on their first shot of the game to take the 1-0 lead. Then the Blues would respond as Robert Bortuzzo with an off angle shot that would beat Tuukka Rask to tie the game at one, but 40 seconds later Joakim Nordstrom would get the puck past Jordan Bnnington on a hard push to take back the lead. However, the Blues would not stay down as Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko would get a 2 on 1 break after Brad Marchand mad a bad play to cause the odd man rush, and on the broken play in front of the net Tarasenko would bat the puck past Rask to tie the game again as we enter the first intermission tied at two.

 

In the second period we had ourselves a penalty palooza as both teams would make multiple trips to the box, but neither team would be able to capitalize on them. The Blues would out shoot the Bruins 14-6, but the score would remain 2-2.

 

In third period it felt like both teams were playing it safe as they passed away opportunities. Also the ice was getting chippy as the puck was bouncing quite a bit, but there were still atleast two, maybe three, good scoring chances in the period.

 

Going into overtime, it would be the Blues who would swarm the Bruins early, and with Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo tired, it would be Carlo taking a penalty, but while the penalty was delayed, the Blues would take advantage with the extra taker with the goalie pulled as Carl Gunnarsson would bomb it from the point for his first career playoff goal as the Blues even the series at one with a 3-2 win.

 

Lineups:

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Patrick Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robby Fabbri

Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso

Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body), Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

 

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: John Moore, Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

Injured: Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

First Period:

Blues Penalty – 3:55 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Goalie Interference

Bruins PPG – 4:44 – Charlie Coyle (7) from Jake DeBrusk (5) and David Pastrnak (9)

Blues Goal – 9:37 – Robert Bortuzzo (2) from Tyler Bozak (6) and Carl Gunnarsson (1)

Bruins Goal – 10:17 – Joakim Nordstrom (3) from Sean Kuraly (5)

Blues Goal – 14:55 – Vladimir Tarasenko (10) from Jaden Schwartz (6)

Blues Penalty – 17:57 – Oskar Sundqvist 2 minutes for Boarding

 

End of 1st – STL – 2       BOS – 2

Shots              10                08

Faceoffs         10                07

Hits               18                  09

PP                 0/0                 1/2

 

Second Period:

Bruins Penalty – 3:34 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Interference

Blues Penalty – 12:19 – Joel Edmundson 2 minutes for Tripping

Bruins Penalty – 15:39 – Connor Clifton double minor for High Sticking

Blues Penalty – 17:56 – Jaden Schwartz 2 minutes for Goalie Interference

 

End of 2nd – STL – 2        BOS – 2

Shots               24                 14

Faceoffs          22                 17

Hits                 33                  19

PP                   0/2                  1/4

 

Third Period:

Blues Penalty – 13:22 – Brayden Schenn 2 minutes for Slashing

 

End of 3rd – STL – 2         BOS – 2

Shots              33                   23

Faceoffs        28                    27

Hits               45                     31

PP                 0/2                    1/5

 

OT:

Blues Goal – 3:51 – Carl Gunnarsson (1) from Ryan O’Reilly (12) and Oskar Sundqvist (5)

 

End of OT – STL – 3         BOS – 2

Shots              37                   23

Faceoffs        28                    28

Hits               49                     31

PP                 0/2                    1/5

 

Next Up:

Game 3 – Series Tied 1-1

 

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Stanley Cup Final Game 1 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

Game 1

 

Game Recap:

The time has finally come for the Stanley Cup Final to begin and with both the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues getting some time to lick their wounds from the past three rounds, are ready to play for the holy grail itself. To start the game both teams would get physical right out of the gate that would also feature two really good scoring opportunities for the Bruins. However, it would be the Blues after a failed powerplay that would score the first goal of the Final as Brayden Schenn would take advantage of the Blues aggressive play and wrist the puck past Tuukka Rask to make it 1-0 for the Blues. The Blues would give the Bruins two powerplay opportunities which saw Marcus Johansson come close to tying the game, only to hit the post instead. The Blues are doing a good job of breaking out of their zone and entering into the Bruins zone, while on the other side of the coin, the Bruins have been doing a good job of creating odd man rushes and creating scoring chances off of them.

 

Heading into the second Schenn would strike again this time intercepting a poorly made pass by Charlie McAvoy, and then passing it to Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot to score his 9th of the playoffs and a 2-0 lead exactly one minute into the period. However, the Bruins would respond as Sean Kuraly would throw the puck to the net and Connor Clifton would deflect the puck into the open net to cut the deficit to one. Later in the period the Blues would shoot themselves in the foot as they gave the Bruins two more powerplay opportunities, and the second one was really dumb penalty that Oskar Sundqvist took that leads to McAvoy taking the puck in from the neutral zone and wristing it past Jordan Binnington to tie the game at two. The Blues looked sloppy and undisciplined, while the Bruins looked like they were a well oiled machine outshooting the Blues 18-3.

 

In the third period the Bruins would continue with their dominating play, and a little over five minutes into the period it would be Sean Kuraly tucking the puck past Binnington to give the Bruins their first lead of the game at 3-2. Then with the goalie pulled late in the third, Brad Marchand would get the empty net goal to seal the deal and give the Bruins the 4-2 victory over the Blues to take the 1-0 series lead.

 

The Blues became very undisciplined after the first period and really got away from their game after Tarasenko scored to make it 2-0. The Bruins were able to take over the game after that point and really control the tempo and score four unanswered goals to take Game 1.

 

Lineups:

St. Louis Blues:

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso

Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body)

 

Boston Bruins:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: John Moore, Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

Injured: Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

 

First Period:

Bruins Penalty – 3:37 – Sean Kuraly 2 minutes for Tripping

Blues Goal – 7:23 – Brayden Schenn (3) from Jaden Schwartz (5) and Jay Boumeester (6)

Blues Penalty – 13:15 – David Perron 2 minutes for Tripping

Blues Penalty – 17:45 – Robert Thomas 2 minutes for Hooking

 

End of 1st – STL – 1       BOS – 0

Shots              08                08

Faceoffs         08                06

Hits               12                  11

PP                 0/1                 0/2

 

Second Period:

Blues Goal – 1:00 – Vladimir Tarasenko (9) from Brayden Schenn (6)

Bruins Goal – 2:16 – Connor Clifton (2) from Sean Kuraly (4) and Joakim Nordstrom (3)

Blues Penalty – 5:25 – Joel Edmundson 2 minutes for High Sticking

Blues Penalty – 11:04 – Oskar Sundqvist 2 minutes for Cross Checking

Bruins PPG – 12:41 – Charlie McAvoy (2) from unassisted

 

End of 2nd – STL – 2        BOS – 2

Shots               11                 26

Faceoffs          19                 17

Hits                 21                  21

PP                   0/1                  1/4

 

Third Period:

Bruins Goal – 5:21 – Sean Kuraly (3) from Noel Acciari (2) and Zdeno Chara (3)

Bruins Penalty – 6:55 – David Krejci 2 minutes for Illegal Check to the Head

Blues Penalty – 13:28 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Interference

Bruins ENG – 18:11 – Brad Marchand (8) from unassisted

 

End of 3rd – STL – 2         BOS – 4

Shots              19                   38

Faceoffs        26                    31

Hits               33                     32

PP                 0/2                    1/5

 

Next Up:

Game 2 – BOS Leads 1-0

 

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TXHT Stanley Cup Finals Previews

Stanley Cup Finals Preview – The St. Louis Blues

Well, I never thought I would be saying this, but tonight begins the first Stanley Cup Finals game in 49 years for the St. Louis Blues. In fact, I’d argue that this is the first meaningful Stanley Cup finals game in team history – though the Blues did make it to the finals each of their first three years, those don’t really count because they grouped all of the original six teams (i.e. the good teams) in one conference, so there was no chance the Blues would beat any team that made the finals.

This time, it should at least be more even. The Blues made it to the final round by dispatching of Winnipeg in 6, and Dallas in 7, while coming back from a 2-1 deficit with inexorable effort against San Jose to take that series in 6 as well.

The Blues are led offensively by Jaden Schwartz who, somewhat inexplicably, has 12 goals in 19 games after scoring only 11 during the regular season. Ryan O’Reilly is next with 14 points, followed by Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron, and Alex Pietrangelo with 13 points. Though others are not quite putting up the points that those guys have been, the Blues have been receiving meaningful, timely, contributions by the likes of Pat Maroon, Robert Thomas, and Tyler Bozak. The team, as a whole, is scoring a rather respectable 3 goals per game (though I’d definitely like to see more).

Defensively, the Blues have allowed an average of 2.52 goals per game (including a couple of empty netters). This is pretty fantastic, and quite honestly happening during a time when Pietrangelo has not really been at his defensive best. The key for the Blues this postseason defensively has been Colton Parayko – who was integral in tempering the production of Logan Couture (which says a lot about just how good Couture is that scoring ‘only’ 5 goals last series was shutting him down).

As far as goaltending, Jordan Binnington has given the Blues what they have not had for years (…forever?) – consistency. Binnington has a .914 save percentage, allowing 2.36 goals per game, but with a quality start percentage of less than 70% and a Goals Saved Above Average of -1.36 (thank you hockey-reference.com). These are generally pretty good, but nothing mind-blowing, and overall a bit worse than what Brian Elliot gave us a few years back, but the evenness of his play – the knowledge that he is not going to go through a multi-game stretch of just being outright awful, is something all Cup contending teams need. It doesn’t matter much if a goalie shuts out a team all four games one round, and can’t stop a beach ball the next.

All this is nice, and it all also probably means nothing because you just can’t apply large-sample statistics to a small-sample series. So my final thoughts are best served not by proffering some hackneyed predictions, but a plea to the Blues: Just win. Please win. Do it for Doug Wickenheiser, who got us all too close. Do it for Brett Hull and Bernie Federko and Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger who spent careers here trying to win one for this city, and came back for a second career when their playing days were done. Do it for Scott Stevens who was unjustly taken away and so badly wanted to come back. Do it for Martin Brodeur and Wayne Gretzky who played a couple games here and decided to make St. Louis their home.

And most importantly – and I can’t stress this enough – unquestionably, undeniably most importantly, do it for me.

Blues in 6.

 

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Stanley Cup Finals Preview – The Boston Bruins

It has finally come, the rematch of 49 years ago has arrived. the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals is etched in history of Bobby Orr flying through the sky after scoring the game winning goal for the Boston Bruins over the St. Louis Blues. Now it is time for these two to face eachother again.

 

For the Boston Bruins this will be their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals this decade as they won the Stanley Cup in 2011 over the Vancouver Canucks, and then lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. The Bruins will look to close the decade with their second Stanley Cup victory over the Blues.

 

How Did They Get Here?

The Bruins in the first round went to a full seven game series with their long time rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then in the second round the Bruins were able to best the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games, and in the Conference Finals they would sweep the Carolina Hurricanes in four games.

 

Offense:

In the regular season the Bruins averaged 3.134 Goals Forward, while in the playoffs they have been lead by their top offensive players with Brad Marchand has been leading the way with 7 goals, 11 assists for 18 points. Plus the Bruins have been getting contributions from David Pastrnak (7g, 8a, 15p), David Krejci (4g, 10a, 14p), Patrice Bergeron (8g, 5a, 13p), and trade deadline pickup Charlie Coyle (6g, 6a, 12p). The Bruins top guys have been shut down in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but once they got heated up or found a way to break through the system the other teams utilized, there was nothing that could stop them.

 

Defense:

On defense the Bruins allowed 2.585 Goals Against per game, and are lead by their captain Zdeno Chara (1g, 2a, 3p) with a +11. Also the Bruins defense has been contributing offensively this postseason led by Torey Krug with 1 goal, and 11 assists for 12 points. Plus the Bruins have been getting contributions from their young defenders in Charlie McAvoy (1g, 6a, 7p +9), and Matt Grzelcyk (3g, 4a, 7p -2), and from their top forwards as well as both Bergeron and Coyle are +8 and +9 respectively.

 

Goaltending:

For the Bruins they have been getting solid goaltending from Tuukka Rask in all 17 games that they have played this postseason. Rask is 12-5 with a 1.84 GAA and a .942 Save Percentage. Rask has also recorded two shutouts this postseason.

 

Special Teams:

Powerplay – 50.7% (10th in Regular Season)

Penalty Kill – 79.9% (16th in Regular Season)

The Bruins are atop the league this postseason scoring on 34% of their powerplay opportunities. Also the Bruins are third during the postseason with a 86.3% on the penalty kill.

 

Final Thoughts:

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Bruins come out of the gate in Game 1 as they will have been off for 11 days at that point. While they have been doing scrimmages to stay fresh, it’s not the same as the real deal. Also there is the storyline now of the sweeps. Starting with the New York Islanders sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, then getting swept by the Hurricanes, and then the Bruins sweeping Carolina. Does that mean St. Louis is going to sweep the Bruins? Probably not, but there’s still a chance for it to happen.

 

Prediction: Blues in 6

 

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