BSJ Playoffs Report: Bruins 7, Blues 2 - Depth, power play shine as Bruins chase Binnington in Game 3 blowout taken at Enterprise Center (2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

(Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images)

2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs

BSJ Playoffs Report: Bruins 7, Blues 2 - Depth, power play shine as Bruins chase Binnington in Game 3 blowout

By Conor Ryan

Jun 2, 2019 • 12:55 am

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ST. LOUIS — Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 7-2 victory over the Blues in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

TWO TAKEAWAYS

Bruins gave St. Louis a taste of its own medicine: Just a couple days removed from getting socked in the mouth by a relentless Blues forecheck, the Bruins evened the score at Enterprise Center, surviving an initial surge before suffocating St. Louis as part of a three-goal barrage in the opening period.

As you can see below, the Blues didn’t get much of anything going in the slot or other Grade-A areas in the first, a testament to a re-engaged defensive effort that limited the Blues from initiating any cycles in Boston’s zone.

A commitment from Boston’s forwards to absorb hits along the wall, win puck battles and chips puck ahead before the big bodies on St. Louis could square them up often had Boston countering down the other end of the ice in short order.



With Boston freed up and able to operate in Blues’ zone, Jordan Binnington was unable to stop a flurry that saw Boston tally three goals over the span of 3:01 of ice time — with three of Boston’s four forward lines opening the scoring in the first period of play. In total, 12 different Bruins players finished with at least a point on the night — with Noel Acciari and Marcus Johansson adding goals in the final minutes of play.

By the time a snipe from Torey Krug snapped past Binnington’s glove at 12:12 in the second period — Boston’s third power-play goal of the night — Craig Berube had had enough, pulling his starting goalie in favor of Jake Allen and waiving the white flag on an anticipated matchup on home ice.

For those keeping track, the winner of Game 3 when a Stanley Cup Final is tied, 1-1, has gone on to win the whole thing  79% of the time since the series went to the best-of-seven format in 1939 (22-of-28 series).

Boston is dominating the Blues at special teams: For as imposing as the Blues’ forecheck and overall physicality was in Game 2, one fault has remained consistent throughout three games now — as the Blues have some major mismatch issues on special teams.

Even with Boston tagged with 16 penalty minutes — including eight over the final period of play — the Blues were only able to strike once on five chances on the power play, and have now only cashed in on one of their 10 bids this entire series.

While the Blues labored on the power play, Boston went 4-for-4 on the night with its own power play — scoring four goals on just four shots and are now 6-for-14 in the series. On the other end, a power-play goal from Colton Parayko snapped a streak that saw Boston eliminate 19 straight opposing power plays.

If the Blues can’t start tilting the ice back in its favor on special teams, this series could be wrapping up soon.

FOUR UP

Bergeron Line: After taking plenty of heat for most of this series, the Bergeron line finally punched back against what has been its nemesis in Brayden Schenn’s line so far during this Stanley Cup Final — combining for two goals and five total points in the win while generating a 73.33 Corsi For Percentage.

Charlie Coyle: You could also give a stick tap to his whole line for its efforts on their goal in the first period, but we’ll give the nod to Coyle for both the finish and his efforts to start the rush from the other side of the ice. Despite getting hounded by Patrick Maroon while carrying the puck out of danger, Coyle didn’t budge — with the 6-foot-3 pivot looking more like a running back protecting the ball than a skater moving up the ice. His line finished with a team-high two high-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play.




Tuukka Rask:
The workload may not have been as heavy as other victories this postseason, but Rask was stellar when it came to negating a strong push from the Blues at puck drop. Rask finished with 27 saves on 29 shots, and is now up to a .939 save percentage over 20 playoff games.


Torey Krug:
Krug was a monster on the blue line Saturday, recording four points (one goal, three assists) over 22:09 of TOI. With his four points, Krug set a new record for most points accrued by a Bruins player in a Stanley Cup Final game.




THREE DOWN


David Perron:
The pesky winger once again did his best to ruffle the Bruins’ feathers all night — whether it be smothering another B’s defenseman in
Charlie McAvoy
before colliding with Rask on this sequence. Not a smart decision.




Blues Penalty Kill:
After
**only**
holding the Bruins to a pair of power-play tallies through the first two games of this series, the dam finally broke on Saturday night with Boston’s 4-for-4 showing. Every game presents a clean slate, but it was far from an encouraging performance for the Blues — who didn’t seem to have an answer when Boston opted to generate most of its shots from the high slot and blue line, as opposed to the bumper and down low.


Undisciplined play:
The Bruins penalty kill might be humming right now, but the Bruins certainly tested their luck far too often on Saturday — gifting the Blues with multiple looks on the power play due to some ill-advised penalties, especially in the third period. St. Louis only managed to score once in the third off of a blast from Parayko, but eight penalty minutes in the final stanza isn’t going to cut it.


PLAY OF THE GAME


What a smooth, backhand finish for Pastrnak — who gave Boston a commanding 4-0 lead less than a minute into the second period.




PARTING THOUGHTS


It certainly didn’t last, but respect to the St. Louis crowd for bringing it in the early going tonight. First Stanley Cup Final game held in St. Louis in 17,924 games, and the folks at Enterprise Center delivered. Fun atmosphere down here.




Also,
Connor Clifton
don’t scare.




LOOKING AHEAD


The Bruins will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead here on Monday, with Game 4 set for an 8 p.m. puck drop at Enterprise Center. Thankfully for the Bruins, a scary blocked shot that hit off of
Charlie McAvoy’s
knee in the closing minutes of the game doesn’t seem to be serious, as
Bruce Cassidy
noted postgame that the defenseman will be fine for Game 4 and shouldn’t have any issues.

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