The Stanley Cup Final is already set, not only the scheduling, but we also know the opponent who will stand in the Bruins way to the Stanley Cup glory. The St. Louis Blues have waited such a long time to even get to the Stanley Cup Final. It´s been 49 years for them. On the other hand, the Bruins will try to win their second Stanley Cup since 1972 and their seventh overall.
It’s been undoubtedly an extraordinary journey for both of these teams. The Blues have been on the last spot in the NHL on Jan. 3. Now they play for the Stanley Cup. The Bruins had some issues after the injury bug hit them hard in November and December, but that´s all forgotten now as there are just four wins left to get. Anything else is not important anymore.
The Goaltending
Jordan Binnington versus Tuukka Rask. That’s your goaltending duel and one of these is your Stanley Cup winning netminder. In past years, we have already seen a rookie goalie winning the Cup in Matt Murray. Will Binnington repeat it? Or will Tuukka Rask hoist his first Stanley Cup? He already has a ring for that 2011 Stanley Cup, but it wouldn’t feel the same for him as winning it now, literally by himself.
In the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, Jordan Binnington, who played in 31 games with the Providence Bruins last season, has played in 19 games during this spring. His GAA is at 2.37 and the save percentage is at .914. Those are not the brightest numbers you can possibly get, but Binnington has been clutch in those close games. Just remind yourselves of his great performances in Game 6 and Game 7 against the Dallas Stars or that he gave up just two goals in Games 4, 5 and 6 against the San Jose Sharks.
Tuukka Rask has been the story for the Bruins so far in this playoffs. In his 17 playoff starts, Rask is 12-5 with the GAA at 1.84 and the save percentage at .942. Just solely comparing Rask’s stats with Binnington’s, Rask has the upper-hand. He also owns the experience edge.
Will one of these goaltenders blink? I wouldn’t bet on that. Although Tuukka Rask is a better netminder overall, both teams should get plenty of support from their masked guy in the net.
The Defensive Duel
Both teams tend to play a heavy and defensive style of hockey, with a ton of physicality. The Bruins have some experience on their back-end with the captain Zdeno Chara, who will be playing in his third Stanley Cup Final. But overall, skaters like Charlie McAvoy, Connor Clifton or Brandon Carlo will be playing in their first ever Cup Final.
On the other hand, the St. Louis Blues have more of an experience on their roster. Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarson, Robert Bortuzzo, those are very experienced defensemen. However, with zero Stanley Cup Final tilts under their belt.
From the point perspective, the most productive defenseman on the Bruins side is Torey Krug with 12 points. The Blues have two very productive D-men in Alex Pietrangelo with 13 points and Colton Parayko with 11 points. Expect a ton of the ice-time for Charlie McAvoy with Zdeno Chara against Pietrangelo with Parayko.
The Bruins overall played two games less than the Blues in the playoffs, but the most used defenseman for the B’s is Charlie McAvoy with 389 minutes of the ice-time. From the Blues perspective, all Bouwmeester, Parayko, and Pietrangelo surpassed 400 minutes, with the captain Pietrangelo playing a total of 485 minutes of the ice-time. The Bruins like to rely on their top defensive pair, but not as much as the Blues.
Shining Battle of Offense
This should be good, but it shouldn’t decide the outcome. You simply cannot expect games to include 10 or more goals scored with these teams being involved. On the Bruins side, Brad Marchand leads them with 18 points, David Pastrnak has 15 points and Patrice Bergeron has 13 points. That’s it for the Bruins top line.
Their second line has been very productive as well, with David Krejci having 14 points, Jake Debrusk with seven points and David Backes with five points, but this trio has played together just in the past seven games, all of them the Bruins have won. The third line production has been very pleasant and refreshing for the Bruins with Charlie Coyle getting 12 points, Marcus Johansson with nine points and Danton Heinen with seven points.
On the side of the St. Louis Blues, their most productive player is Jaden Schwartz with 16 points, seconded by Ryan O’Reilly with 14 points, then both David Perron and Vladimir Tarasenko have 13 points each. Tyler Bozak concludes the list of at least 10-point producers with exactly 10 points.
We should expect a lot of Patrice Bergeron against Ryan O’Reilly. While Bergeron has played a total of 325 minutes of the ice-time, O’Reilly has played 407 minutes of the time on the ice. Faceoff percentage for O’Reilly is at 48.72, while for Bergeron it’s at 59.29. That’s going to be a huge matchup as well.
Prediction
The Bruins should have a little bit more of the offensive production, while the Blues should tie up the Bruins with their great defensive display. Tuukka Rask has been a bit better goaltender than Jordan Binnington. The Blues have just one player with the Stanley Cup Final appearance in their lineup with David Perron. The Bruins have six such skaters.
With that being said, the Bruins should have the experience edge. However, will it be enough? Or will the St. Louis Blues finally win their first ever Stanley Cup? We shall find out.
The prediction: I don’t know the number of games, but I believe the Boston Bruins will win.
