Blues' Carl Gunnarsson Before OT Winner vs. Bruins: 'I Just Need 1 More Chance'

St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson reportedly told head coach Craig Berube he needed "one more chance" during a bathroom conversation before scoring the overtime winner in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

Gunnarsson nearly scored the game-winning goal for St. Louis in the third period when his shot hit the goal post, but he got another clean look early in overtime and drilled a point blast past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask to level the series at one game apiece.

"And all Gunnarsson said to [Berube] was, 'I just need one more chance,'" Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist told reporters. "It was true, apparently. It worked out."

The 32-year-old blueliner is not known for his offensive prowess; he's never scored more than five goals in any of his 10 NHL seasons, including no goals in 56 games during the 2016-17 campaign. Gunnarsson entered Wednesday having played 56 playoff games without finding the net.

His first playoff goal, which came on his 26th career postseason shot on goal, may have changed the course of the entire series.

"I don't score too many, but nothing comes even close to this," Gunnarsson said. "So it's a pretty good feeling right now."

Going back to St. Louis down 2-0 against a team with as much high-end talent as Boston, including a red-hot netminder in Rask, would have represented a potentially insurmountable deficit.

Instead, the Blues will return to Enterprise Center on Saturday night in possession of the series' home-ice advantage courtesy of their Game 2 win.

"First game, we weren't happy; today, we came out flying, and I think we played a great game for 60-plus minutes," Gunnarsson added. "That's just the team we are. We come back like that. We never give up. For me to put it in there and get the winner, it's a great feeling."

St. Louis is still a slight underdog (23-20, per Vegas Insider) after Wednesday's triumph, but the Bruins' status as favorites (37-50) would have been much larger if they had gone up 2-0.

The Stanley Cup Final resumes Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN.