Just when the St Louis Blues had the Boston Bruins on their heels and chasing the game, they gave up a goal and the roar went right out of the building.
The Blues could have let the talented Bruins seize the moment, let things get away from them on home ice. Again.
They did not.
Photo: AFP
The team that was mired in last place in the NHL in January, that suffered from missed calls in the playoffs and slogged through some tough losses instead showed the resolve of championship contenders and are now two victories away from lifting the Stanley Cup.
Ryan O’Reilly on Monday scored the opening goal 43 seconds in and the winner with 9 minutes, 22 seconds left as he and the Blues thrived in a chaotic Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to beat the Bruins 4-2 and tie the bruising series 2-2.
“We knew what we had to do tonight to be a better team,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We were relentless tonight. We didn’t stop for 60 minutes.”
Game 5 is tomorrow in Boston.
This one was a back-and-forth thriller, with Boston’s Tuukka Rask and St Louis’ Jordan Binnington each giving up lots of rebounds for frantic scoring chances and scrums.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 11th goal of the playoffs and Binnington made 21 saves to improve to 7-2 in the post-season after a loss.
Even more impressive was the rookie’s bounce-back from being pulled in Game 3 for the first time in his NHL career.
Rask allowed three goals on 37 shots and was on the receiving end of several Blues onslaughts.
“He spit some rebounds out, but I don’t have an issue with his rebound control,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Rask.
Charlie Coyle scored for the third consecutive game and Brandon Carlo had a short-handed goal for Boston, but their stars were quiet again and a big problem might be brewing: Boston captain Zdeno Chara was knocked out of the game by a puck to the mouth.
Chara was allowed to sit on the bench, but it is uncertain if he will be able to play in Game 5 when the Bruins could be without two of their top six defensemen.
O’Reilly ended an eight-game goal drought by cashing in two rebounds off Rask for his first multi-goal game since November last year.
After losing 15 of his 23 face-offs in a tough Game 3, O’Reilly was dominant all over the ice.
“He’s been our best player all year and he got rewarded,” Blues winger Patrick Maroon said of O’Reilly.
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