The fresher St. Louis Blues gave up a 2-0 lead at TD Garden against a rusty Boston Bruins side, resulting in a 4-2 Game 1 defeat.
St. Louis took the lead in the first period with a goal from Brayden Schenn, before Vladimir Tarasenko added a second. Schenn also had an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 34 saves for the Blues, who were outshot 18-3 in the second period, 30-12 in the final two periods and 38-20 overall.
Head Coach Craig Berube said “Turnovers…. The second period, I didn’t think we skated very well. Also, penalties were a part of it all, but the second period we got picks and we didn’t skate, didn’t advance them, turned them over, gave them momentum.”
Charlie McAvoy scored on the power play to make it 2-2 after Connor Clifton had got the hosts a goal back. Sean Kuraly, who also had an assist made it 3-2 at 5:21 of the third period, before Brad Marchand scored into an empty net to seal the comeback victory for Boston, who have won eight straight since losing Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tuukka Rask made 18 saves for the hosts, who have outscored their opponents 32-11 in the last eight games.
Since 1939, when the NHL introduced the best-of-7 format in the Stanley Cup Final, Game 1 winners have won the cup 77.2% of the time (61 of 79). Teams that have won Game 1 in any series have a record of 476-219, and Game 1 winners this season are 9-5.
Meanwhile the Blues are 0-13 in the Cup Final; they last reached this phase in 1970, when they lost to the Bruins.
Up Next:
Blues v Bruins – Wednesday, May 29 (8pm – NBCSN)
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