Stanley Cup Playoffs: What went wrong for the Boston Bruins?

With Game 7 over, the almighty Boston Bruins have fallen at the hands of the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. What went wrong in their quest for hockey’s ultimate prize in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Well, she must be singing “Gloria” right about now, because the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the St. Louis Blues and the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs have come to an end. The Boston Bruins are going to have to wait until next year for another chance at hockey’s ultimate prize.

After Game 7, where the Bruins seemingly had every advantage in the book aside from St. Louis’s stellar road record these playoffs, the Bruins have to be wondering just what went wrong for them. Unfortunately for Boston, when it came to the Game 7 winner takes all, they didn’t rise to the occasion. There were a few turning points and takeaways from their Game 7 loss.

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First was the panic that set in for the Bruins. Watching the first half of the first period, they had complete and total control of the game and St. Louis could barely break out of their zone. It looked like it was going to be a long night for Jordan Binnington and the Blues. It looked like it was just a matter of time before the Bruins goals started piling on.

The first goal at the hands of Ryan O’Reilly wasn’t so much the turning point as the second goal by Alex Pietrangelo, which happened just before the end of the first 20 minutes, was. The close range, backhand shot was one that should have easily been stopped by Tuukka Rask. Instead, it ended up being the eventual game-winner.

Heading back to the locker room down 2-0 at home shouldn’t have been something to worry the Bruins. After all, that’s the same exact hole they found themselves in during Game 1 before they came back for a home-ice victory.

Game 7 would be different, as panic took over for the Bruins and their once dominant offensive attack would be held to just one goal, to come in the games closing minutes as the cup was being polished for presentation to St. Louis.

Next was the lack of action that Tuukka Rask faced in-goal. Rask had a relatively light workload throughout the night, only facing 20 shots, but unfortunately for him and the Bruins, four of those shots got past the former Conn Smythe favorite.

While the box score and his .800 save percentage for the game make the easy assumption that Rask far underperformed in his team’s most important moment, there was an added layer of complexity to it.

While the Bruins at the beginning of the game were relentless in their offensive attack on the Blues, that left Rask with almost little to no action seen. When he was finally tested, it came after a long layover of not seeing any game action, and that’s an advantage St. Louis fully took to their advantage. For what it’s worth, Rask was barely tested in the Eastern Conference final, but then again the Carolina Hurricanes lacked the offensive prowess of the St. Louis Blues.

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One silver lining for Bruins fans is that Zdeno Chara had his time to shine on the highlight reel. In the second period, Rask failed to control a shot that slipped out of his reach, and fell to the ice to almost cross the goal line.

It was Chara’s stick that saved the goal and prevented a 3-0 deficit for the Bruins for the time being. After coming back into the lineup with a broken jaw it might not have been as nice as lifting the cup, but he was at least able to be apart of a major team play and help his team.

While probably a minor factor, special teams for neither St. Louis nor Boston had much chance to put their talents to use in Game 7. The series’ final game featured only one minor penalty, a delay of game mid-way through the first to Colton Parayko. With the Bruins power play scoring at an exceptional 32.4% throughout the playoffs, the Blues were probably relieved that their players largely stayed out of the penalty box.

The Bruins did not capitalize on the only man advantage of the game, which makes the non-call against Tyler Bozak for tripping Noel Acciari not only a renewed topic of debate but also could be cited as a turning point in the Bruins loss.

Then again, St. Louis was on the wrong end of their own controversial call during the Western Conference Final and left that in their rearview mirror to win the cup, so any arguments about the Game 5 noncall is more a product of residual anger than an actual losing reason.

Did the Bruins underestimate the road presence of the St. Louis Blues? The Blues have been nothing short of dominant in road games on their way to the Stanley Cup and won three road games in the Stanley Cup final. With Boston taking two games at Enterprise Center, any blaming of “home ice advantage” or lack thereof can be written off.

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Luckily for Boston, their incredibly talented team is set to largely stay the way it is. While it may be mothballed until October comes around, they leave the Stanley Cup final with more answers than questions. They may not have been victorious, but there’s no reason to believe this team can’t be back here very soon.

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