Stars align in Boston’s blowout of St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins' best players took the criticism to heart.
They weren't good enough through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final and needed to be better. And they were.
The stars came out on Saturday night and led Boston to a 7-2 rout of the St. Louis Blues to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Bergeron and defenseman Torey Krug each scored a goal and had two assists, David Pastrnak scored his first goal of the series and the top power-play unit was a perfect 4 for 4.
Boston chased Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, silenced actor and Blues super fan Jon Hamm and a raucous crowd that was fired up for the first Cup Final game in St. Louis in 49 years. The Bruins survived an initial onslaught and then took it to the home team.
Nothing was more important for the Bruins than the first line of Brad Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak getting going after no evenstrength points through the first two games. They combined for five points a decidedly better effort at 5-on-5 and on the power play.
“It's about time we get going,” said Pastrnak, who scored his first goal in the final. “I still think we haven't played our best. But we are up 2-1 and we need to meet tomorrow, look at the video and get even better.” Game 4 is Monday night. “We spent less time in our zone,” Bergeron said. “When we do that we have more energy on offense.”
Playoff MVP front-runner Tuukka Rask was solid as usual in goal with 27 saves, and the Bruins continued to get contributions all over their lineup. Trade deadline pickup Charlie Coyle continued his hot run with his eighth goal of the playoffs, fourth-liner Sean Kuraly scored his second in three games and Marcus Johansson added goal No. 7 in the final minutes.
The Blues came out flat and continued a troubling trend of parading to the penalty box. After being the least-penalized team through the first three rounds, the Blues took six more minors Saturday to give them 16 in the final.
Staying disciplined was coach Craig Berube's focus given the charged atmosphere that delivered on all the hype.
“We do have to limit the penalties for sure,” Berube said. “We know they have a dangerous power play and we've been flirting with danger here the whole series and it burnt us tonight.”
Binnington allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting the hook for the first time in his NHL career.
“I've got to be better,” Binnington said. “I got to do a better job giving my team a chance to win. They scored three goals in the first. That's never good.