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NHL Stanley Cup Final 2019: Bruins vs. Blues TV Schedule, Predictions
June 2, 2019
When the Boston Bruins won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final by controlling the second and third periods in a 4-2 victory, much of the postgame talk was how the Bruins were the dominant team and would roll in the Stanley Cup Final.
When the St. Louis Blues responded with a hard-hitting 3-2 overtime triumph, the same experts said the Western Conference champions had gained control of the series.
Now that the Bruins played their best game to this point, overwhelming the Blues 7-2 in Game 3 at Enterprise Center on Saturday, it's clear that the series will be marked in the Bruins' favor.
The truth is that one showing does not decide any series unless it's the seventh game. Both teams still have an opportunity to claim the Stanley Cup, and while a dominant road win should allow the Bruins to feel confident, they still need two more victories before they can claim the seventh Stanley Cup in team history.
Stanley Cup Final Results and Schedule
All times ET.
Game 1: Boston 4, St. Louis 2
Game 2: St. Louis 3, Boston 2 (OT)
Game 3: Boston 7, St. Louis 2, Boston leads series 2-1
Game 4: Boston at St. Louis, Monday at 8 p.m., NBC
Game 5: St. Louis at Boston, June 6 at 8 p.m., NBC
Game 6: Boston at St. Louis, June 9 at 8 p.m., NBC (if necessary)
Game 7: St. Louis at Boston, June 12 at 8 p.m., NBC (if necessary)
The Bruins responded to their Game 2, home-ice defeat in a decisive manner. They jumped on the Blues with three first-period goals by Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle and Sean Kuraly to take control of Game 3.
Bergeron responded to rumblings that he was not healthy by deflecting in Torey Krug's point shot on the power play for the first goal, while Coyle finished off a sharp passing play with Marcus Johansson and Danton Heinen for the second.
Kuraly's tally was a back-breaker, coming with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first period. The Blues challenged the goal by claiming the Bruins were offside, but it stood and the Blues were penalized further.
When David Pastrnak made the Blues pay with a goal on the consequent power play early in the second period, the game was basically over.
The Bruins drove St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington out of the net in the victory, and they may have dented the rookie's confidence. However, the Blues have until Monday night to recover.
Pastrnak said the Bruins can play better despite the team connecting on all four of their power-play opportunities and Krug setting a team record with four points in a Stanley Cup Final game.
"I still think we haven't played our best," Pastrnak said, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "But we are up 2-1, and we need to meet tomorrow, look at the video and get even better. That's our focus in this group, and we've got a lot of good players, so we know we can even elevate more."
While the Bruins have taken a step forward, the Blues know they have to respond with a better effort in Game 4.
"Games like that, we don't want them to happen, but it did tonight," Blues forward David Perron said, per Rosen. "... We have to park it, turn the page and come back way better next game."
St. Louis will have to find a way to keep the Bruins from lighting up the scoreboard with its power play, either by doing a better job on the penalty kill or by avoiding penalties.
The Bruins will have to remain focused and avoid overconfidence following their one-sided victory Saturday.
Prediction
The Blues will have to refocus Monday night and try to improve their play with the puck and assert their physical game.
The other issue is Binnington's play in net. Head coach Craig Berube pulled him after the Bruins scored their fifth goal, and he is not playing as well in the Stanley Cup Final as he did in the previous playoff rounds.
Binnington will have to pick up his play, because Berube is unlikely to turn to backup Jake Allen for such a vital game.
The Bruins are coming off the kind of effort that head coach Bruce Cassidy wanted to see from his team. Boston used its speed, skill and physical prowess to gain an edge, and the B's will hope to repeat that effort as the series progresses.
St. Louis should push back and make Game 4 a close encounter, but the Bruins will do enough to pull out another road win. Boston records a 4-2 victory and takes a 3-1 series lead.