St. Louis Blues tie up Stanley Cup Final with overtime win in Game 2

Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final was 52 years in the making, as the St. Louis Blues won their first Cup Final game in franchise history by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime.

The St. Louis Blues were one of the NHL’s first expansion teams. They remain the only one without a Stanley Cup title, but on Wednesday, May 29, they took a huge step towards winning one. In their fourth Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history, the Blues won their first Cup Final game in franchise history, besting the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime.

In Game 1, the Blues got dominated by the Bruins, especially after the first period. Game 2 saw the tables get turned, with the former dominating the latter. It also saw a far more active first period, with four goals being scored in a span of roughly 10 minutes.

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The Blues were the dominant team throughout Game 2, outshooting the Bruins in three of the four periods and winning the shots on goal battle 37-23. This included an impressive effort in overtime, as Boston didn’t even muster a shot on goal before Carl Gunnarsson‘s overtime game-winning goal.

For the Bruins, goaltender Tuukka Rask continued his outstanding play. Truthfully, he was the biggest reason Boston played so poorly, yet still nearly stole a win in Game 2. The Bruins power-play struggles continued, as they only scored one goal in five opportunities. Moreover, Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington saw four shots against on the man advantage while Rask had to stop three shorthanded shots from the Blues.

Give credit to St. Louis, who bounced back from two deficits in the first 20 minutes to pull out the much-needed overtime win. The Blues have battled this postseason, as they’ve won six of their eight games following losses.

For the second straight game, St. Louis managed to win the battle of the stars. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak combined for one assist, which came on Charlie Coyle‘s power-play goal in the first period. The trio also combined for seven shots on goal.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, and Ryan O’Reilly combined for three points and 10 shots on goal. Tarasenko got the second game-tying goal of the first period after Schwartz fed him a juicy pass. O’Reilly picked up the primary assist on Gunnarsson’s overtime goal.

It’s been 50 years, Blues fans. You’ve been waiting for years to celebrate a win in the Stanley Cup Final. We could all use a little more “Gloria” in our lives, so blast it.

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Takeaways

The Blues are keeping the Bruins’ top forward line remarkably silent. Not only have Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Marchand done minimal damage (just an empty net goal and a secondary assist in two games), the trio has a 39.02% expected goals for percentage at five-on-five, far below their overall mark for the postseason (55.59% xGF%).
Rask has been so darn great, even if the Bruins don’t win the Stanley Cup, he should be a serious Conn Smythe candidate. Even with Schwartz, Binnington, and Tarasenko having impressive postseasons, the argument could be had nobody’s been better than Rask.
The Blues seem to have solved the Bruins’ power play. They’ve held them to two goals on 10 opportunities. Before the Cup Final, the Bruins were converting on roughly one-third of their power plays. The Blues have been terrific shorthanded, which is why they have been able to win Game 2 and why they were in a position to steal a win in Game 1.

Three Stars

Carl Gunnarsson (overtime game-winning goal, assist)
Vladimir Tarasenko (one goal)
Joakim Nordstrom (one goal, four shots on goal)

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What’s Next

The Blues and Bruins get two days off to travel to St. Louis. Game 3 will be on Saturday, June 1, starting at 8:00 p.m. EST.

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