It’s hard to say for sure what stats or trends really matter when you have just one winner-take-all game for the Stanley Cup.
The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues will play Game 7 for the Cup on Wednesday night at TD Garden, the culmination of an epic, physical battle between the two clubs. When you’re talking about one game for the sport’s biggest prize, it’s impossible to know for sure what’s going to happen. But if history is any indications, the Blues have to feel pretty good about the prospects of their young goalie Jordan Binnington.
This is a scenario in which Binnington has had a lot of success this spring — on the road and coming off a loss. The Blues are 9-3 on the road this season, and all of those games came with Binnington in net. What’s even more impressive, though, is his play after a Blues loss. Binnington has a 13-2-0 record following a loss in his career, a mark that includes a 7-2 showing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In those nine games, Binnington has a 1.86 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. He and the Blues haven’t lost two consecutive games since May 3, including rebound efforts in Games 2 and 4 in the Stanley Cup Final.
On the other hand, Bruins have to feel pretty good about their goaltending situation, too. Tuukka Rask has been simply sensational for two months, and he has picked up his game when the Bruins are either facing elimination and/or have the ability to eliminate their opponents. In Boston’s three series-clinching wins to this point, Rask has stopped 95 of 96 shots he’s faced, and if he somehow blanks the Blues in Game 7, he’ll become the first goalie in NHL history to post three series-clinching shutouts.
Of course, the Bruins will settle for Rask simply outplaying Binnington which has been no easy task in this situation during the playoffs, although Binnington hasn’t been tasked with a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final yet, either.
