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2019 STANLEY CUP FINAL – GAME 2 (BEST-OF-SEVEN)
ST. LOUIS 3, BOSTON 2 (OT) (SERIES TIED 1-1): Carl Gunnarsson’s goal, off a slap shot from the point, 3:51 into overtime gave the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins in game two of the 2019 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston.
It was a historic win for the Blues, as they won their first-ever game in the Final in franchise history after having lost their first 13, including their 4-2 loss to the Bruins in game one Monday night.
Charlie Coyle got Boston on the board first, with a power play goal at 4:44 in the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Blues countered at 9:37 on Robert Bortzzo’s second career playoff goal, deflected off of a Bruins defender to tie the game 1-1. However, Boston retook the lead 37 seconds later, when Joakim Nordstrom scored at 10:17, slipping the puck between Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington’s legs to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Vladimir Tarasenko tied things up again at 14:55 when, on a two-on-one with Jaden Schwartz, Tarasenko got a second chance at a rebound and backhanded the puck in past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask to tie the game at 2-2.
The score stood up from there, as the Bruins, who have now scored power play goals in six straight games, failed to connect on the last four of their opportunities, as Binnington recovered from giving up the two goals to play very well in the net, as did Rask in the Boston goal. In the third period, Gunnarsson hit the post with about two minutes left in regulation to keep the score tied.
In a story related by Blues head coach Craig Berube, during the overtime intermission, Gunnarsson told the Blues coach during a bathroom break that all he needed was one more chance. Gunnarsson got it when, on a delayed Boston penalty and the Blues with six attackers, he took a return pass and fired the puck past Rask and an Alex Pietrangelo screen to score the winning goal, giving St. Louis a vitally-needed road win.
Binnington stopped 21 Boston shots en route to the win, and is now 6-2 in the playoffs in games that followed a loss. Rask made 34 saves in the Bruins’ first loss in eight games, dating back to a loss in game three of the Eastern Conference second round at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Boston played without defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who was injured in the first period after taking a hit along the boards from St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist, who was penalized two minutes for boarding on the play.
The series now shifts to St. Louis’ Enterprise Center, where games three and four will take place on Saturday and Monday nights. Game five returns to Boston next Thursday, and if game six is needed, it will be played Sunday, June 9 in St. Louis. If a seventh and deciding game is needed, it will be played in Boston on Wednesday, June 12. All games start at 7 p.m., with game three on NBCSN, and games four through seven on the NBC Television Network nationally and KSDK in St. Louis locally.
