Bruins top Blues in Stanley Cup Final revenge game

It was dubbed a revenge game, a rematch of this past June’s Stanley Cup Final, but all along the Bruins said it was just two regular season points on the line.

The first few moments of Saturday night’s contest with the Blues carried the energy of a game that meant a little something more, but in the end, the Bruins 3-0 win won’t earn them another crack at the Stanley Cup.

But, two points in October during a tough stretch of the schedule is something this year’s version of the Bruins can feel pretty happy with.

Just 38 seconds into the game, Zdeno Chara laid down a big hit on Oskar Sundqvist, sparking Brayden Schenn into a scrum by the Blues bench and forcing a 4-on-4, and that set the tone for the Bruins most physical contest of the season to date.

The Bruins first goal, though, was a familiar sight for viewers this season.

With 5:01 left in the first, David Pastrnak one-timed a blast that clipped off Jordan Binnington and crossed the goal line, putting the Bruins ahead 1-0 on the power play.

The Bruins had another late period power play but didn’t capitalize that time in what was an infraction-filled opening frame; twice the Bruins and Blues had matching penalties to lead to 4-on-4 situations, and once the Blues went to the power play on a Sean Kuraly cross-check.

The closest they got to finding the net in the first was an Oskar Sundqvist breakaway denied by Tuukka Rask during the second 4-on-4, right before the Bruins scored.

The B’s second goal had some meaning.

Anders Bjork, in his second NHL game of the season, fired in his first goal of the season from the right circle after a pass from Matt Grzelcyk with 9:31 left in the middle period.

It was his first NHL tally in over a year, with his last coming on October 13, 2018.

The Blues continued to rack up penalty minutes, with Sundqvist going to the box for the second time late in the second, this time via boarding Charlie McAvoy, but the Blues survived the third Bruins man advantage of the contest.

St. Louis headed into the game with the fifth-most effective power play in the NHL, but the Bruins penalty kill shut it down every try, and Rask earned his second shutout of the year.

Brandon Carlo sealed it with a long-distance empty net goal with 48 seconds left, the defenseman’s first goal of the season.

It doesn’t make up for Game 7, but a 7-1-2 start in the season following, during a tough part of the schedule, isn’t too bad, either.

The Bruins head to New York to face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night before returning home to face the Sharks on Tuesday as a part of three games in four days.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WoFxrC