The St Louis Blues are one victory away from their first Stanley Cup after beating the Bruins 2-1 in Boston on Thursday in Game 5 of the series.
The Blues, back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they were swept by the Bruins in 1970, lead the series 3-2.
They can lift the Stanley Cup with a victory in St Louis, Missouri, tomorrow — when the Bruins will try to force a Game 7 back in Boston.
Photo: AFP
“It’s exciting for us, obviously,” St Louis defenseman Colton Parayko said. “It’s huge for our group. We’ve had quite the season so far. We’ve been through quite a lot, but we continue to battle. We never gave up on each other. It put us closer together, especially now at this point.”
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 38 of 39 shots and tied the NHL record for most wins by a rookie goalie in a single playoffs with his 15th.
In front of their home fans and coming off a Game 4 defeat, the Bruins were also boosted by the return of captain Zdeno Chara — who took a puck to the face in Game 4 and did not finish the game.
They came out firing, but Binnington was up to the challenge.
“It starts with [Binnington],” said Ryan O’Reilly, who scored for St Louis along with David Perron. “Obviously, he played outstanding tonight to keep us in there in that first [period].”
O’Reilly’s third goal in two games put the Blues up 1-0 55 seconds into the second period and he assisted Perron’s goal with 9 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the third that made it 2-0.
Boston protested Perron’s goal and fans were enraged after the play began with Tyler Bozak gaining control of the puck by taking the legs out from under Boston’s Noel Acciari.
With Acciari down on the ice, Perron banked in the insurance goal off of Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy called the non-call of a tripping foul “egregious.”
“It’s right in front of the officials, it’s a slew foot,” Cassidy said. “Our guy is gone — it took him out of the game for possible concussion, big effect on the game.”
Nevertheless, the Bruins pulled within 2-1 with 6:28 remaining when Jake DeBrusk scored with a slap-shot.
“You’ve got to keep playing and we did,” Cassidy said. “We scored the next goal, gave ourselves a chance to win.”
O’Reilly had put the Blues on the path to victory when he finished off a pass from Zach Sanford that went through Sanford’s legs — and those of defender Charlie McAvoy.
O’Reilly controlled the puck with one touch and put a backhander past Rask, who made 10 saves for the Bruins, who remained defiant, despite their desperate situation.
“I think as a group we’ve played well tonight and we had our chances,” Acciari said. “I think Game 6 is going to be a different story.”
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