Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
After sitting in last place in the NHL with 36 points on January 3rd, the St. Louis Blues beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-1 in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night for their first title in franchise history. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who set an NHL rookie record with his 16th victory of the postseason, made 32 saves in the win. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask recorded 16 stops in the loss. The Blues tied an NHL record with their 10th road win of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
First Period
Center Ryan O’Reilly deflected defenseman Jay Bouwmeester’s shot through Rask’s five-hole to give the Blues the first goal of the game on only their third shot 16:47 in.
The @StLouisBlues strike FIRST in Game 7! #StanleyCup
📺: @nbc
💻: https://t.co/svSJ7srvwn pic.twitter.com/3genf4cP7t— #StanleyCup Game 7 on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 13, 2019
Captain Alex Pietrangelo backhanded a shot top shelf on Rask to the blocker-side after pulling off a toe-drag once he got a pass from forward Jaden Schwartz to make it 2-0 with 7.9 seconds left.
The Captain. 🚨
📺: @nbc
💻: https://t.co/svSJ7srvwn pic.twitter.com/ZDZpS3oAon— #StanleyCup Game 7 on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 13, 2019
Prior to Ryan O’Reilly, the last player to score a goal in four consecutive Stanley Cup Final games was Wayne Gretzky in 1985 (Games 2-5, Oilers vs. Flyers). O’Reilly is the first player in NHL history to score in Games 4, 5, 6, and 7 of a Stanley Cup Final series. #StanleyCup
— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) June 13, 2019
The Blues led 14-11 in hits, 9-2 in blocked shots, and had no giveaways while Boston had five after 20 minutes.
The Bruins led 12-4 in shots and 5-2 in takeaways after one. They won 61% of the draws and went 0-for-1 on the man advantage in the first.
veteran move by Brad Marchand hustling to the bench to avoid eating the -1 pic.twitter.com/jdoRUEWf4M
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) June 13, 2019
Second Period
The Blues led 25-21 in hits, 14-7 in blocked shots, and had only four giveaways while the Bruins had 12 after a scoreless second period.
The Bruins led 23-10 in shots, including 11-6 in the middle frame, and 6-5 in takeaways after two. They won 51% of the draws and went 0-for-1 on the power-play in the opening 40 minutes.
Third Period
Binnington extended the pad to stop forward Joakim Nordstrom midway through the third on a rebound opportunity.
The save heard around St. Louis. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Od9Y3TxihI
— #StanleyCup Game 7 on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 13, 2019
Center Brayden Schenn one-timed forward Vladimir Tarasenko’s pass from the slot past the glove of Rask to extend the Blues’ lead to 3-0 with 8:35 left.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Well these eyes see the window for a goal. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/xXBJEYEWr9
— #StanleyCup Game 7 on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 13, 2019
New England native and forward Zach Sanford one-timed forward David Perron’s pass in front of Rask to make it 4-0 with 4:38 to go.
Defenseman Matt Gryzleck made it 4-1 with a shot that went off of the bar and in after getting a pass in the slot with 2:10 left.
The Blues led 36-27 in hits, 21-7 in blocked shots, 8-6 in takeaways, and had only seven giveaways while the Bruins had 13.
The Bruins led 33-20 in shots and won 51% of the draws. They went 0-for-1 on the power-play.
Each team posted 10 shots in the third period.
By Harrison Brown
The Blues were an amazing story. Did their “Miracle Braves” imitation. (Back in 1914, the Braves found themselves in dead last place at All Star Break but turned it around, finished in first place and played the A’s, who were heavily favored and loaded with superstars, and beat them in 4 straight.)
The NHL Hapless List is now down to Two: Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, each with No Stanley Cups since their NHL inception in 1970.
Ex-Caps Zach Sanford and Craig Berube did us proud this Final. Sanford’s goal making the lead 4-0 definitely set off the celebration. And although Butch Cassidy was abysmal as the Caps’ head coach a long time ago, he was a formidable force this playoffs, and his Bruins were tenacious all the way through.
Today (the Day after the hoisting of the Stanley Cup) is a traditional Axe Day when out-of-favor coaches get fired. We’ll see how it pans out!
Leadership!
This Stanley Cup Playoff, and the regular season too, showcased how one man at the top makes all the difference. Chief Berube or Mike Yeo? Now we know!
Berube had been fired himself a couple of times. Orchestrating a winner from 23 independent pieces is difficult. Just ask Barry Trotz. The St. Louis Blues turnaround was an epic event. Chief got the most out of his squad. His predecessor, a footnote.
Day One a bit too bitter about Caps’ 2019 failure, especially coaching. But I say: Short Leash! Caps are every bit as talented as St. Louis, with at least twenty former Champions on the roster. Coming out of the blocks this October, it will be UNACCEPTABLE to have a listless, uninspired Caps team.
Look at the FIRE of the St. Louis Blues! Compare that to know-when-to-fold-em Caps. Nauseating.! GMBM I hope you watched LOTS of this year’s NHL Playoffs. Your Head Coach and his staff have showed us nothing.
Agree Berube a huge reason Blues made this run bc like Trotz he came in held Blues accountable, created a structure etc. But even more then that to me is the netminder Binnington. They were in last place what around New Years. Having goalie issues then they find this 25-26 year old rookie Jordan Binnington who never gives the job back. 16 Ws most for rookie in SC. And now with Binnington&Berube the Blues look to be a formidable team in the nhl for the next 3-5 years
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