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NHL Stanley Cup Final 2019: Bruins vs. Blues Game 6 Result, Updated Schedule
June 10, 2019
The NHL's long season got pushed to the limit Sunday night when the Boston Bruins played with urgency and beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The win allowed the Bruins to tie the championship series at three games each, and the final game of the series will be played Wednesday night at TD Garden.
The Bruins had given up the opening goal in the previous two games of the series, and they played from behind in the majority of both of those games. Head coach Bruce Cassidy wanted to see his team score the opening goal, apply pressure to a St. Louis team that was playing to win the first Stanley Cup in team history and keep pressing their advantage.
That's how the game played out, as Brad Marchand opened the scoring when the Bruins had a two-man advantage in the first period. He took a sharp pass from David Pastrnak and whistled the puck past St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington and gave the Bruins that early lead.
The Bruins were able to maintain that slim one-goal advantage through two periods, and while the Blues put plenty of pressure on Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, they could not dent him.
Stanley Cup Final, St. Louis at Boston, Game 7
Series standing: St. Louis 3, Boston 3
Date: Wednesday, June 12
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live
Odds (per Covers): Boston -162 (bet $162 to win $100); St. Louis +133 (bet $1020 to win $133)
It looked like the game would end up 1-0 or 2-1, but the tone of the game changed in the third period when defenseman Brandon Carlo sent a wrister from the blue line that bounced past St. Louis goalie Binnington.
That goal put the Blues in a position where they had to score quickly, but it led to a mistake. David Krejci picked up a turnover shortly thereafter, and Karson Kuhlman took his pass and whistled a wrister past Binnington on 10 minutes and 15 seconds. That turned St. Louis' situation from difficult to dire.
The Blues would get one goal from Ryan O'Reilly on a replay review as his shot went over the goal line by inches, but Pastrnak and Bruins captain Zdeno Chara closed out the scoring for the Bruins.
A 5-1 victory looks decisive in the record book, but it was only a 1-0 game after 40 minutes.
The Bruins have given themselves an opportunity in Game 7, but they have not clinched the Stanley Cup. The Blues may have lost at home with an opportunity to win their first Stanley Cup, but they have another opportunity to win on the road. They have already won two of three games in Boston.
Patrice Bergeron explained how Boston turned things around, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com: "We took care of the things that were hitting us the last three games and capitalized on our chances."
St. Louis head coach Craig Berube said there was no loss of confidence even though his team failed to take advantage of home ice, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com): "Listen, if you told me four months ago we were going to be in the finals in Game 7, I think I'd take it. We've been a good road team. We've won twice up there in this series, so we're a confident group."
Bruins center Charlie Coyle explained the Boston leadership made a point to keep the locker room calm after the team lost Game 5 at home.
"We just wanted to play our game and play hard, and that was the message," Coyle said while being interviewed by Jeremy Roenick on NBCSN. "We have Zee (Chara), Bergy (Bergeron) and Krejc (Krejci) and we knew what we had to do."
Coyle added that if the Bruins are going win Game 7, they have to take the same approach on home ice: "We have to play the right way stay focused. It's fun to be a part of and we want to finish it off in the right fashion."
The Bruins and the Blues have plenty of time to prepare for the first seventh game in the Stanley Cup Finals since 2011.
Boston won that game on the road over the Vancouver Canucks by a 4-0 margin. This will be the first time the Bruins have hosted a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final round.
It can't get here soon enough for the players and fans of both teams.