Blues winning attrition battle again

BOSTON — Twice the Boston Bruins have been forced to finish a Stanley Cup final game down a defenseman. The St. Louis Blues won each time. That’s not a coincidence.

Wearing out opponents and winning the war of attrition has been an ingredient of the Blues’ playoff success. They took advantage of injuries to San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl to move on to the final, and, with Boston potentially without captain Zdeno Chara for Game 5 Thursday, St. Louis is now two victories away from lifting the Stanley Cup as the healthier team.

“We can see it throughout games and throughout series,” Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said Wednesday. “It’s tough minutes to play against our forward lines when they’re playing the way they can. You can see the momentum we create by our line changes in the offensive zone, we’re just using all four lines. If I was a defenseman, that would be tough to Game: Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues, Game 5, TD Garden, Boston.

When: 8 p.m.

TV: WPXI.

Series: Tied, 2-2.

defend against.”

Chara did not go to the arena Wednesday, 36 hours after taking a puck to the jaw in Boston’s Game 4 loss that tied the series at two games apiece. Coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t talk to and only briefly texted with the 42-year-old defenseman, who has a facial injury that has been reported to be a broken jaw.

Just like the Sharks series in the Western Conference final, the Blues insist their game plan doesn’t change depending on who’s in or out of the lineup on the other side. That includes Chara, even though missing him on the penalty kill and defensively could make a big difference.

“We prepare for a game from our side,” Conn Smythe Trophy candidate Vladimir Tarasenko said. “We can control our game. We don’t know what’s gonna happen if he’s gonna play or no. We just follow our plan. That’s it.”

The absence of Chara could prove to be the tipping point in a bruising battle. Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk is out with a concussion, and St. Louis forward Robert Thomas is out with a suspected hand or wrist injury. Cassidy said Grzelcyk, who practiced in a no-contact jersey Wednesday, is still in concussion protocol and would need to be medically cleared in order to play Thursday night.

If Boston is without two of its top five defensemen in Chara and Grzelcyk, it would mean bigger roles for John Moore and Connor Clifton. And the Bruins’ entire approach would change.

“You lose a little bit of your team defense, well, maybe you’ve got to create more offense to balance that out,” Cassidy said. “You got a guy that kills penalties well, maybe stay a little more disciplined. Down the line of how can you make up for what he brings without one guy going in there.”