Stanley Cup Game 7 Recap: The Blues Are Champs
Photo Credit: Fox News
Well that game is one tough pill to swallow. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final at home, doesn’t get more soul crushing than that. And what makes it even worse is how well the Bruins played to start the game. The Bruins came out of the gates buzzing in the first period. The Bruins could of and should have had at least 2 goals if not more in the first 10-15 mins of the game, but they didn’t. Right around the 5 min remaining mark in the first period, after yet another flurry of saves from Binnington, a little doubt started to creep in do to all the golden chances they were missing. Sure enough moments later, the Blues score a redirect goal from the blue line that goes right between Tuukka’s legs. A shot that probably needs to be stopped in a game 7. Then to make matters even worse, the Bruins allowed the Blues to add another with 7 secs left in the first. This goal came after an awful breakdown by the Bruins on defense. Brad Marchand who had put in a lengthy shift opted to go for a line change with less than 10 secs and this allowed the Scwartz to skate freely into the Bruins zone and drop a pass back to a trailing Alex Pietrangelo who buried the shot. It was the Blues 2nd goal on 4 total shots in the period. The Bruins meanwhile had 12 and yet nothing to show for it. The ultimate gut punch to end the 1st.
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The second period was more even but the Bruins still had nearly double the shots of the Blues. Neither team scored and the game headed to the 3rd period. After Bruins failed to score in the 2nd, the doubt really started to creep in at that point. Binnington was standing on his head in goal and it was pretty clear that it was going to take something special that the Bruins didn’t have to beat him. The Bruins needed an early goal in the 3rd period to get back in this game but that would never come. What would come though was the nail in the coffin when the Blues scored their 3rd goal of the game to go up 3-0 with a little less than 9 minutes remaining in the game. At this point the Bruins needed a miracle but once more the Blues added another with less than 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd via Zach Sanford. The Blues could officially celebrate as they had won their first Stanley Cup in team history, after a long 52 year wait. The Bruins were finally able to break the shutout when they pulled Tuukka to gain a man advantage but it was too little too late. Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final ended 4-1 in favor of the St. Louis Blues.
In the end, this one definitely stings. The Bruins had a golden opportunity against a team that I feel they are superior to. The Blues caught lightning in a bottle in the second half of the season and into the playoffs but I still feel the Bruins are the better squad, if not by a decent margin. The biggest issues for me throughout the series was the Bruins inability to bury the puck. Just like last night, there were a multitude of chances the Bruins forwards just couldn’t beat Binnington. Lift the puck for me one time in a one on one opportunity, instead they just kept firing it low into his pads. Also didn’t help that our top of Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak never seemed to step up in the big moments when the team needed them most. Honestly the most memorable moments came from the 3rd and 4th lines throughout this series. The of course we have the biggest what if moment with Marchand’s decision to go for a line change. What if he had just put a body on Schwartz to slow the Blues attack and taken the game into the 2nd period only down 1-0? How different could the game have turned out had something as simple as that happened? But……congrats to the St. Louis Blues. You’ve won game 7 of the Stanley Cup final and there’s not a better feeling. Also shout out to Blues fanbase for not only filling up the Blues arena but also filling up the Cardinals’ stadium to watch the team in the pouring rain.
Thanny