The Boston Bruins, with goals by their big dogs Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, stomped the Saint Louis Blues 7-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals to take a 2-1 series lead after the Blues lost their first Cup Finals home game since 1970.
The Bruins went a perfect 4-for-4 on the power play. Boston’s defenseman Torey Krug scored a goal and added three assists. Patrice Bergeron scored once and added two assists, while his linemate David Pastrnak scored his first goal in the Finals.
Things went so poorly for rookie goalie Jordan Binnington that head coach Craig Berube replaced him during the second period after giving up his fifth goal of the night. The Bruins held on to win 7-2.
The Blues played Game 3 without center Oskar Sundqvist while serving a one-game suspension by the NHL. Sundqvist boarded Matt Grzelcyk in Game 2 and Grzelcyk had to leave the ice with assistance. Grzelcyk is still out indefinitely with a concussion.
Meanwhile, Boston’s goaltender Tuukka Rask picked up another win with 27 saves and only two goals allowed. Rask stopped approximately 94 percent of all shots on goal in the postseason.
Quick Start
The Blues hosted the Bruins at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis. It took nearly 50 years before the Blues got another chance at the Cup. Celebrity fans such as actor Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) and Patrick Mahomes from the KC Chiefs were in attendance.
Despite the energized crowd, the Blues first home game got off to a bad start and quickly esclated. Boston jumped out to a hot start in Game 3. Patrice Bergeron put the Bruins ahead with the first of four power play goals.
“It’s about time we get going,” said David Pastrnak. “I still think we haven’t played our best. But we are up 2-1 and we need to meet tomorrow, look at the video and get even better. That’s our focus in this group, and we’ve got a lot of good players, so we know we can even elevate more.”
Charlie Coyle and Sean Kuraly both scored in the first period. The Bruins took a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Pastrnak scored his first goal of the series less than a minute into the second period. It was the Bruins second power play goal.
Pulling the Rook
Ivan Barbashev scored midway through the second period for the Blues first goal. They were down 4-1 but finally got on the scoreboard. Just as the momentum began to shift, Binnington allowed his fifth goal a minute later to kill any comeback.
Berube pulled Binnington after he allowed five goals in only 19 shot attempts. The rookie had 60 saves in the first two games and allowed five goals.
Then again, all the penalities didn’t help the Bruins. Four of the seven goals they allowed happened on the power play. The Blues killed zero penalties on their home ice. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron took advantage and the Blues’ miscues.
“We do have to limit the penalties for sure,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “We know they have a dangerous power play and we’ve been flirting with danger here the whole series and it burnt us tonight.”
The Blues rode a super hot Binnington into the Stanley Cup finals. They would not have beaten the Sharks without his stellar net minding. The Blues hope the kid gets the game out of his head in time for Game 4.
“I’ve got to be better,” said Binnington. “I got to do a better job giving my team a chance to win. They scored three goals in the first. That’s never good. They’re a good hockey team. We have to get back to our game.”
The St. Louis Blues opened up as -115 favorites to win Game 4. They are down 2-1 and must win on Monday night if they hope to return to St. Louis for Game 6 for a shot at the Stanley Cup.