Stanley Cup Game 6 Recap
Photo Credit: Jamie Squire
Now I know that I missed the game 5 recap but that was due to me being at the Outer Banks and having little to no wifi access over the weekend, not due to me being salty about the game 5 loss and the Bruins being on the brink of elimination. But game 6 happened last night and while I easily became distracted when the news of David Ortiz being shot and injured broke, I still caught most of the game. The game didn’t start great for the Bruins. The Blues came out on fire and were all over the Bruins. The Bruin couldn’t retain possession of the puck to save their life. The Bruins caught their first break of the night when Brayden Schenn delivered a dirty hit to Jaokin Nordstrom against the boards and gave the Bruins their first power play of the night. Then roughly 30 secs later Ryan O’Reilly would get whistled for a delay of game when he sent the puck into the stands trying to clear the powerplay. This resulted in a 5 on 3 for the Bruins and almost a sure thing goal. And a sure thing goal it was with Brad Marchand giving the Bruins the 1-0 lead on the road 20 secs into the 5 on 3 powerplay. The rest of the first period and the entire second was the Tuukka Rask show, he saved 28 of 29 shots on goal last night. The Bruins gave up the next 3 penalties and would kill all three. The Blues went 0-4 on the night and I’m pretty sure that takes them to 1 for 16 in the series, they’d definitely have the cup already had they been able to convert on some of these powerplays. The third period was filled with action as Brandon Carlo started the period by giving the Bruins a 2-0 advantage from a bouncing shot from the blue line. Then midway through the 3rd period, Karson Kuhlman scored his first ever playoff goal to just about wrap up the game. Ryan O’Reilly would break up the Tuukka Rask shutout and give the Blues some hope when he scored with 8 mins left but the Bruins answered right back with a goal from David Pastrnak. An empty netter would be added by Zdeno Chara in the final minutes for a final scoreline of 5-1.
Check out the insane work Tuukka was putting on in goal (Refresh page if video doesn’t load first time)
Going into this game, I’m not going to lie I wasn’t the most confident. The Bruins were struggling to score goals, they were away in St. Louis and everything just seemed to be going St. Louis’ way. The Bruins needed Tuukka Rask to stand on his head in goal, much like the performance the Blue received from Binnington in game 5. Even the first goal scored by the Bruins didn’t quell the nerves, because up until that point in the game the Bruins were struggling to make anything happen and the only reason they scored was due to a 5 on 3 advantage. But the Bruins survived the first and second period and looked like a completely different team in the third. The Bruins were actually maintaining possession and putting together some really good attacks. Shots on goal don’t always tell the whole story, much like in game 5, but the third was the first period from the Bruins that they were getting more than just a few good looks. They turned back into the team that has me feeling really good heading into Game 7. The Blues have been great in the playoffs at bouncing back when coming off a loss, they are 5-2 in the in their following game, but I’m still feeling confident about the Bruins. The Blues were unable to finish off the series at home and now add to that pressure by having to play away at the TD Garden in game 7. It’s either going to be the ultimate high or the ultimate low and it all starts Wednesday at 8 o’clock. Winner take all for the greatest trophy in sports, doesn’t get much better than that.
Thanny