We’ll see you back in Boston.
The Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Sunday night at Enterprise Center in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 back at TD Garden.
Brad Marchand put the Bruins on the board in the first period, but it wasn’t until Boston scored a four times in the third (an empty-netter included) that the lead truly felt safe. Even when Boston broke defensively, Tuukka Rask stood tall, making one great save after another.
In addition to Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Karson Kuhlman, David Pastrnak and Zdeno Chara also had goals for Boston. Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Blues.
Rask made 27 saves for the Bruins, while Jordan Binnington also turned away 27 shots for St. Louis.
Here’s how it all went down:
B’S STRIKE FIRST
Although the Bruins weren’t the better team in the first period, they were responsible for the only goal, leading 1-0 after 20 minutes.
While on a 5-on-3 power-play, Torey Krug unleashed a heavy one-timer that Binnington stopped. A rebound resulted and so too did a net-front scramble, but Patrice Bergeron did a nice job to get the puck back out to Krug at the point, who backhanded a pass to David Pastrnak. After holding the puck for a moment just above the circle, Pastrnak sent a pass to the bottom of the opposite circle, where Marchand was waiting. The winger sniped a nice one-timer that beat Binnington over his left shoulder at 8:40.
The Bruins held a 12-9 shot advantage in the period.
SCORELESS SECOND
The second period ended scoreless, but not due to a lack of action.
St. Louis had a pair of opportunities on the power play in the period, ultimately outshooting the B’s 10-8 in the period. One of those shots was kept out thanks to a miraculous play by Charlie McAvoy to bat the puck away.
BACK TO BOSTON WE GO
The first goal of the period was going to determine a lot, and it was the Bruins that recorded that pivotal tally. They ultimately scored four times in the period to secure the win.
Just a few minutes into the frame, Alex Pietrangelo attempted to clear the defensive zone from deep, but the puck struck a referee’s skate and stayed in. There was a brief scrum for possession, and the puck eventually made its way up to Carlo at the point. The defenseman got off a shot and it knuckled its way to the net, tricking Binnington and putting the Bruins up 2-0 at 2:31 in the period.
Just beyond the midway point, Kuhlman added to the advantage.
Pietrangelo turned the puck over, giving possession to David Krejci in the neutral zone. Krejci skated into the attacking end, then slipped a pass to Kuhlman at his right. The winger fired home an absolute missile at 10:15 to put the B’s up 3-0.
The Blues didn’t just lay down, though.
With about eight minutes left, Pietrangelo put a bad-angle shot on net that Rask turned away. But the puck found its way to O’Reilly, who had a wide-open look. O’Reilly shot and it appeared that Rask made an incredible kick save. But after a video review, it was clear the puck had crossed the line, cutting the B’s lead to 3-1.
The Blues’ comeback attempt was short-lived, however.
Sean Kuraly’s hard forecheck resulted in him bullying the puck away from Sammy Blais behind the Blues’ net. Kuraly slid a pass to Marchand on the doorstep, and Marchand dropped the puck to Pastrnak. The winger made a nice hesitation move to burn Binnington and put Boston up 4-1 at 14:06.
With 2:19 left in the game, Chara scored an empty-netter to put the game on ice.
UP NEXT
The series returns to Boston on Wednesday for a winner-take-all Game 7. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 8 p.m. ET.
