Stanley Cup Final: Bruins top Blues with dominant power play effort to take 2-1 series lead - CBS Sports

The Stanley Cup Final has been a pendulum through three games. 

Just as the Blues bounced back from a Game 1 defeat with a much stronger effort to take Game 2 earlier this week, the Bruins bounced back with an emphatic, 7-2 win in Game 3 on Saturday night. The series shifted to St. Louis for the city's first Stanley Cup Final game in 49 years, and it feels safe to say it was not worth the wait for Blues fans.

Boston was all over the Blues early and often in Game 3, to take a 2-1 series lead. The Bruins got a much-needed strong performance from their top line but the story of the night was discipline and special teams. The Blues continued to give the Bruins way too many opportunities on the power play and Boston took full advantage, scoring on all four of their man-advantages, and each time on their first shot of the power play.

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Special teams the story

The Bruins opened up the second period by scoring a power play goal on the man-advantage that came as a result of the failed offside review at the end of the first. That goal came when David Pastrnak was left all alone in front of Jordan Binnington.

The Blues managed to get on the board later in the period when they were able to establish some position down low and get a nice break. A shot from Ivan Barbashev deflected off of both of Charlie McAvoy's skates and snuck past Tuukka Rask to put up a crooked number for St. Louis.

But the Blues quickly coughed up any momentum that goal may have gathered when Colton Parayko took a costly and unnecessary penalty that put the Bruins back on the power play. Boston made it a perfect 3-for-3 on the night when Torey Krug scored on a shot that Binnington should have stopped. 

That was the end of Binnington's night, as the Blues goaltender was pulled for Jake Allen.

All Bruins in first period

After a frustrating loss in Game 2, the Bruins needed to make a strong statement out of the gate in Game 3. Mission accomplished. The Blues may have been the better team for the first five minutes and change but the Bruins got stronger as the period went along and by the end of the opening 20 minutes Boston held a 3-0 lead.

The first tally came on a power play goal from Patrice Bergeron, whose health status was in question coming into this game. He didn't look too bothered on the great deflection that found its way past Jordan Binnington.

Later in the period, the Bruins' excellent third line struck when Marcus Johansson found Charlie Coyle with a great feed on the rush. Coyle delivered with a one-timer past Binnington.

Then, to cap off the period, Sean Kuraly put a shot past Binnington to make it 3-0. The entry was challenged for an offside and it looked like the goal might be reversed but officials determined that a Blues player put the puck back into the zone, nullifying a would-be offside and counting the goal for the Bruins. We head into first intermission with a 3-0 Boston lead.

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2019-06-02 03:09:32Z
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