BOSTON — The Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination.
The St. Louis Blues claimed Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 on Thursday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Although the Bruins played a great first period, it ended scoreless. The Blues took the lead in the second and added to it in the third, with David Perron’s tally to make it 2-0 proving to be a controversial one, as it came right after a brutal no-call on a Tyler Bozak trip of Noel Acciari.
Ryan O’Reilly had the Blues’ other goal, while Jake DeBrusk scored Boston’s tally.
Tuukka Rask made 18 saves for the Bruins, while Jordan Binnington turned away 36 shots for St. Louis.
Here’s how it all went down:
B’S CONTROL FIRST, BUT CAN’T SCORE
Although the Bruins controlled play in the first period, it ended scoreless.
Likely energized by the thunderous ovation Zdeno Chara received before the game, the Bruins had a number of high-danger chances in the opening period, ultimately outshooting St. Louis 17-8.
Both teams got a chance on the power play, but neither could cash in.
The Blues had a couple quality looks in the stanza as well, but Rask looked sharp.
BLUES TAKE LEAD
The first intermission brought the Bruins’ momentum to a screeching halt, as the Blues scored less than a minute into the second, which proved to be the middle 20 minutes’ only goal.
Alex Pietrangelo had the puck at the point and dumped it into the corner of St. Louis’ offensive zone. Zach Sanford retrieved it behind the net and dropped an impressive no-look, through-the-legs pass to O’Reilly, who received the puck on the doorstep, switched to his backhand and roofed it past Rask just 55 seconds into the period.
The Bruins won the shot battle 8-6 in the second.
BLUES WIN IT
The Blues and Bruins each had a goal in the third period, and St. Louis’ score certainly wasn’t free of controversy.
Bozak got away with a pretty egregious trip on Acciari in the Blues’ offensive zone, sending Acciari toppling to the ice. The puck was loose as a result, and O’Reilly poked it over to Perron. The winger’s first shot attempt was blocked by Torey Krug, but Perron got the puck right back. He attempted to pass across the crease, but the puck hit the inside of Rask’s pad and redirected in at 10:36.
Here’s another look.
The Bruins didn’t lay down and die though.
Krug did a great job to fight through a high-sticking at the point, which got a delayed call. The defenseman then slipped a pass over to DeBrusk, who one-timed a slap shot past Binnington at 13:32 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
UP NEXT
The series returns to St. Louis on Sunday for Game 6. Puck drop from Enterprise Center is set for 8 p.m. ET.
