The St Louis Blues are one win away from their first Stanley Cup Championship, which they can win on home ice on Sunday.
The visitors earned that opportunity by defeating the Boston Bruins 2-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden.
Head coach Craig Berube said, “our team was gutsy tonight … Our goalie was good, and our team was gutsy.”
Jordan Binnington made 38 saves as he paved the way to setting an NHL record for most road wins by a rookie goalie (9) and tying the record for the most wins by a rookie goalie in a single postseason (15). He made 17 saves in the first period alone, which ended 0-0.
Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens 1986), Ron Hextall (Philadelphia Flyers, 1987), Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes, 2006) and Matt Murray (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2016) are the only other rookie goalies to win 15 games in a single NHL postseason. Only Hextall did not win the Stanley Cup. Hextall won eight road games.
Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron scored for St. Louis, with the former scoring his third goal in the past two games and registering an assist Perron‘s goal.
The Blues are 7-1 in Games 5-7 of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. The excitement for the potential to win at home in Game 6 is starting to build for fans and players alike. Defenseman Colton Parayko stated, “I can only imagine how exciting it’s going to be there.”
Boston did eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference First Round by winning Game 6 at Toronto and Game 7 at Boston. Game 7 of this series would be Wednesday at Boston if they can magic a win in a Gloria filled arena.
Jake DeBrusk scored, and Tuukka Rask made 19 saves for Boston, who should have been lifted by the return of captain Zdeno Chara, who played 16:42 with a broken jaw that required the defenseman to wear a plastic jaw protector attached to his helmet.
“He was medically cleared with some warnings. He made the decision to play,” Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Inspirational for us, good player for us. We knew he wouldn’t be 100 percent. We’re happy to have him out there but it just speaks a lot to his character and his role.”
Boston thought they may have tied the game at 7:00 of the third when David Pastrnak tired to push the puck under Binnington, but the officials didn’t call it on the ice. The Situation Room reviewed the play and supported the referee’s call that the puck did not completely cross the line. Three minutes later Perron made it 2-0, before DeBrusk scored with 6:28 remaining.
Since 1939, when the NHL moved to a best-of-7 format, the team that wins Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead has won the Stanley Cup 72% of the time (18-7).
Up Next:
Bruins v Blues – Sunday, June 9 (8pm – NBC)
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