The buzz is real down Causeway Street and if you didn’t know by now, the Boston Bruins are in the Stanley Cup Finals. Both teams have endured quite a few obstacles this season: Bruins persevering through a stretch of injuries, and the Blues coming from dead last to being Western Conference Champions. The two best teams are in the Finals and whoever wins, deserves to win. This is going to be a tough one, folks.
GAMEDAY NOTES
Coach Bruce Cassidy recently confirmed that Captain Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand will be in the lineup tonight. Yesterday many players participated in Media Day, answering questions and posed for pictures before final preparations for tonight’s game.
Tonight will mark 49 years since the Boston Bruins swept the Blues in 1970, and tonight Boston knows that they are facing a very tough St. Louis team. For a few players this mark their third time being in this position: Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, and Tuukka Rask:
“I’m very thankful to be in this opportunity and to compete for a Cup. I think in a way its different, where I’ve matured and I’ve come to realize that it’s not easy to get to this point and make the most of it.”
Bruins Center Patrice Bergeron
With an 11-day lay-off, the Bruins have kept their legs fresh, but ultimately it’s always tough to mimic an actual Playoff game. Fans were able to enjoy a scrimmage this past Thursday, as well as show support and raise money toward the Boston Bruins Foundation.
From Last to First
The St. Louis Blues have completely turned their season around to reach the Finals for the first time since 1970. In the final 45 games of the regular season the Blues have posted a 30-10-5 record, and ended with 99 points. One of the biggest components of the St. Louis success is rookie goaltender, and former Providence player, Jordan Binnington. After taking over in January, the 25-year-old posted a 24-5-1 record with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
This will be the Blues third time in their franchise history to reach the Stanley Cup finals. Unfortunately each time they’ve made to this point they were swept; twice by the Montreal Canadiens and once by Boston.
Matching Up
The Bruins and St. Louis met twice during the regular season and split the series, with Boston winning 5-2 on January 17th and losing 2-1 in a shootout on February 23. In the past, Boston has won the Cup each time they’ve met the Blues in the Playoffs (1970 and 1972). St. Louis and Boston are no strangers when facing each other in a championship round and luckily the edge is given to Boston. Aside from the Stanley Cup, Boston has faced and won against St. Louis in the NBA Finals (1957-W, 1958-L, 1960-W and 1961-W), the Super Bowl (2002-W), and have split the World Series (1946-L, 1967-L, 2004-W, 2013-W).
Expect this series to be very physical and low-scoring, with Boston looking to outskate to get past a big-bodied Blues defense. Either team will need to take advantage of special teams when given the opportunity. Both goaltenders are playing hot lately, and each team has had a chance to rest. Coach Bruce Cassidy stated recently:
“I think they’re very similar to us, the way they play, forechecking yeah… they play pretty North-South, use all four lines, fourth line particular gets a lot of assignments like ours… think they’re a bit of our twin, so to speak…I see a lot of similarities.”
WHEN TO WATCH: Tonight at 8:00 PM
WHERE TO WATCH: NBC
STANLEY CUP FINAL SCHEDULE:
Game 1: Monday, May 27 at 8 p.m. (TD Garden, Boston, MA) – NBC
Game 2: Wednesday, May 29 at 8 p.m. (TD Garden, Boston, MA) – NBCSN
Game 3: Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m. (Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO) – NBCSN
Game 4: Monday, June 3 at 8 p.m. (Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO) – NBC
Game 5: Thursday, June 6 at 8 p.m. (TD Garden, Boston, MA) – NBC*
Game 6: Sunday, June 9 at 8 p.m. (Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO) – NBC*
Game 7: Wednesday, June 12 at 8 p.m. (TD Garden, Boston, MA) – NBC*
*IF NECESSARY
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