Bruins Overcome Slow Start, Beat Blues in Game 1, 4-2

Boston Bruins defeated St. Louis Blues in the first game of the NHL finals tonight. Bruins were better and managed to come back after being two goals behind, posting a 4-2 victory to boost their morale before the rest of the series.

Hosts entered the game a bit sloppy, and according to several of them, it was a consequence of a long period in which they were without games. After smoothly sweeping Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins have 10 days of rest before facing the Blues.

“The time off, you don’t have your edge yet to battle,” said Bruse Cassidy.

Tuukka Rask had an even better comment on that.

“I guess we were just trying to find our legs,” said the goalie.

And really it looked like that on the ice.

Brayden Schenn brought the lead to the guests after 7:23 of the first period. That lead was doubled exactly a minute after the start of the second period when Vladimir Tarasenko used a pass from Schenn who took the puck from David Pastrnak behind the net.

It was the ninth straight goal for the Russian who posted a point in each of the last seven playoff events.

In those moments things weren’t looking good at all for the Bruins who couldn’t even use two powerplays in the latter part of the first sequence.

But only 1:16 after Tarasenko’s goal, Connor Clifton decreased the gap between two sides. Sean Kuraly, who was the man of the match last night, passed the puck to Clifton through the slot and the defenseman didn’t have any problems to score from a nearby.

And suddenly the momentum has shifted to Bruins side. At 12:41 into the second, the home team leveled the score with Charlie McAvoy beating Binnington. That is his shot hit Alex Pietrangelo’s stick and deceived Blues’ goalie.

Believe it or not, Boston had 18 shots in that part of the game, while guests recorded only three.

“The second period, we were able to just get around pucks and move it north very quickly, and then our forwards weren’t trying to do any east-to-west plays,” Torey Krug explained.

Krug, a 28-year old defenseman, had one breathtaking hit last night, when he annihilated Blues’ forward Robert Thomas. Not only did he tore apart Thomas, he didn’t have a helmet on his head while doing that.

Torey Krug lights up Robert Thomas. pic.twitter.com/0U3cp1m60T

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 28, 2019

Kuraly turned the tables in the early part of the third period. After 5:21 of play in that part of the match, he scored after a messy situation in front of Binnington. Zdeno Chara sent a powerful wrist shot towards Bles goalie, who managed to deflect it in front of him. Noel Acciari waited passed it towards Kuraly who used his skates to set up the puck before sending it into the net.

The Blues opened up and focused their strength solely on the attack. Brad Marchand used that to set up the final score with an empty-net goal 1:49 before the end of the contest.

Game 2 is already this Wednesday, and there isn’t much time for both sides to heal, calm down, and do what it takes to prepare themselves for the next challenge.

“We’re gonna do some work tomorrow, prepare for Wednesday,” said Rask. “This time of year, it is all about elevation. Elevating your game.”

Ha. Tuukka Rask telegraphed that move within a few seconds. #Bruins pic.twitter.com/yaqHmhqCQb

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) May 28, 2019

This was the 8th win for the Bruins in this playoffs. The last loss came in the conference semifinals against Columbus Blue Jackets. At the moment they are really looking good, but we can’t underestimate Blues’ will and determination.

Craig Berube’s guys often performed miracles this season, and it is nothing new for them to lose the first match of the series.

“We’ll be back at ’em for Game 2,” Binnington stated after the match.

Game 2 starts at 8 p.m. ET.