Stanley Cup Final 2019: 3 takeaways from Bruins’ Game 1 win over Blues

E.Jay Zarett

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Stanley Cup Final 2019: 3 takeaways from Bruins’ Game 1 win over Blues image

The Bruins struck first in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

Boston scored four unanswered goals to pull out a 4-2 win over the Blues in Game 1 on Monday at TD Garden. The Bruins now hold a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The Bruins will host the Blues in Game 2 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Here are three takeaways from Boston's Game 1 win

Bruins overcome long layoff

The Bruins swept the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals and had 10 full days off before facing the Blues in Game 1.

Boston — which held an intrasquad scrimmage late last week — wasn’t sharp early and fell behind less than 10 minutes into the first period.

The Bruins, however, shook off the rust and bounced back to come away with the win. Sean Kuraly put the Bruins ahead for good with a goal a little more than five minutes into the final period.

Brad Marchand then added an empty netter to secure the victory.

Momentum shifts in second period

The Blues had all the momentum early in the second period after Vladimir Tarasenko found the back of the net less than a minute in to put his team ahead, 2-0.

But from there, the period was disastrous for St. Louis as Boston dominated. Connor Clifton quickly scored the Bruins’ first goal of the 2019 Stanley Cup and Charlie McAvoy followed with a power play goal a little more than 10 minutes later.

In total, the Bruins outshot the Blues, 18-3, in the period.

The score could have been a lot worse for the Blues heading into the intermission, which leads us to our next takeaway.

Jordan Binnington gave Blues a chance

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was great in Game 1 despite the loss.

The 25-year-old rookie kept his team competitive throughout the matchup. He made 34 saves and limited Boston to just one goal on five power-play attempts.

St. Louis will hope Binnington can repeat his performance Wednesday as the team looks to even the series at 1-1.

Tuukka Rask made 18 saves for the Bruins in the winning effort.

 

E.Jay Zarett