The Boston Bruins have lost Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues
A loss that they certainly deserved.
It was quite the opposite story as opposed to Game 1 on Monday. In the first game, the Bruins started on their heels but finished with a resounding victory. This time around, the Bruins had a better start, but the play on heels followed in the rest of the game.
Scoring the first goal, that’s something that the Bruins like. They have drawn first blood in 14 games during the playoffs already. They were 11-2 when scoring first ahead of Wednesday. However, in Game 2, they hadn’t been able to further work with their lead.
Right after Charlie Coyle scored, the Blues seemed dangerous and they somehow banged in one goal. Robert Bortuzzo with a shot deflected off Matt Grzelcyk past surprised Tuukka Rask, that can be called somehow. But on the other note, the Bruins were calling for it.
Their response was superb, the fourth line scored its third goal of the Stanley Cup Final to give the Bruins another lead. In the next few minutes, the Bruins had a few looks, but then they collapsed with Brad Marchand making a silly decision to practically leave the Blues to go with a two-on-one break to tie the game again.
Ever since that moment, the Blues had been by far the better team. The Bruins, who had 38 shots on net in Game 1, got to number 20 on the shot clock late in the third period this time.
They finished with only 23 shots on goal. The Blues had the chances and shots they wanted. They were recovering the puck and making it difficult for the B’s to gather any kind of momentum.
In overtime, the Bruins seemingly hadn’t entered the Blues defensive zone before Carl Gunnarsson snipped one in on a delayed call to win the game for St. Louis. The Bruins could not have been mad about the outcome, it was coming, it was just matter of time. They can be mad about not stealing one game they didn’t deserve to win.
But overall, they should be angry about why they couldn’t maintain the tempo and rhythm from Game 1. One of the biggest worries for the Bruins ahead of the Stanley Cup Final was to shake off the 11-day layoff after Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Their first game after a long break was lights out better than their second game.
There is a hoping that their third game will be the best of their season. The Bruins find themselves in a similar spot as against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round. Another team with a “Blue” in its name. The Bruins didn’t deserve to take a 2-0 lead after their first two games at TD Garden. They even lost Game 3 on the road. Nevertheless, Boston came back with three unanswered wins to claim the series in six games.
In the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, the Bruins won Game 2 against the Chicago Blackhawks on the road in overtime, which they dominated and deservedly won. Then they returned home to Boston and won Game 3 in a shutout fashion to take a 2-1 lead. However, they lost the series in six games. There is a hoping too, that this time around they will accomplish the same exact thing which happened against them six years ago.
