Final: Bruins top Blues 7-2 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final

The Boston Bruins celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues 7-2 in Game 3 of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Enterprise Center on June 01, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com 

It’s gone final in St. Louis, and the Bruins have regained control of the Stanley Cup Final in resounding fashion. Boston dominated all facets of the game in a decisive 7-2 win over the Blues, led by domination on special teams and a resurgent night for the top line led by Patrice Bergeron.

Check below for a recap of our live updates from the game.

Recap: Third Period

— 1:25: Bruins get one more on the power play, and they’re 4-for-4 in that situation. Marcus Johansson makes it 7-2. Just a dominating win for the Bruins, reminiscent of when they obliterated the Canucks 8-1 in game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

— 1:48: Noel Acciari forechecks his way into possession in the high slot, and slides it into the empty net

— Blues pull the net with five minutes left in the final period, still down three.

— 7:02: Marchand gets a good shot off against Binnington. A significantly better game for Marchand tonight than Games 1-2, making better decisions with the puck and attacking the net with more frequency. Not getting fancy nearly as much and it’s worked wonders for the top line.

— 13:35: What did I just say? Jake DeBrusk just flips at the puck without looking where it’s going. Where it’s going is cleanly over the glass, meaning a delay of game penalty. DeBrusk has made a handful of glaring mental mistakes tonight, and hopefully this doesn’t cost him dearly.

— 14:36: So much for being perfect on the penalty kill. Zdeno Chara gets called for roughing and the Blues capitalize, as Parayko fires it and it deflects off Brandon Carlo and in the net. It’s 5-2 Bruins and they can’t afford to give the Blues any more life.

— 17:06: Bruins successfully kill off the Carlo penalty. Bruins remain 100 percent on both the power play and penalty kill in Game 3.

— 18:29: Brandon Carlo to the box for interference against Ryan O’Reilly. The Blues get up to 1:23 of 4-on-3 power play time.

— 19:06: The Bruins and Blues will play 4-on-4 after an early scrum. David Perron and Connor Clifton to the box after both engage right in front of Tuukka Rask.

Recap: Second Period

— 0:19: Tuukka Rask got run into by David Perron and it looks like he’s had enough. Rask pops back up and gets in Perron’s face before McAvoy joins in the scrum. The Blues’ physical tactics are not working tonight one bit.

— 7:48: Make that 3-for-3 on the power play. Torey Krug has made it 5-1 Bruins with a point shot that deflected off Jay Bouwmeester and in. Jordan Binnington got a piece of it before it went in, though, and the goal has chased him from the game for backup Jake Allen. Krug has been an absolute menace on the power play, with a goal and two dynamic assists.

— 8:19: The Bruins are going back to the power play. They’ve been dangerous there tonight – 2-for-2. Colton Parayko to the box for high-sticking on Brad Marchand.

— 8:55: The Blues are on the board. Ivan Barbashev one-times it and it deflects off Charlie McAvoy’s skate into the net. The Blues’ Zach Sanford made it happen by protecting the puck against Zdeno Chara behind the net before setting Barbashev up.

It’s still 4-1 Bruins, though, and they now need to get their speed and puck movement rolling again like it was in the first period. It would still take an epic collapse for the B’s to blow this one, but they just need to get back to putting the pressure on Binnington.

— 10:12: Bruins kill it off. Tuukka Rask made one very nice save. Brandon Carlo had some great stick work, particularly when he took advantage of an errant pass to help clear the puck.

— 12:12: Charlie McAvoy to the box for a high-stick and the Blues get a power play. Zdeno Chara and Patrick Maroon also get matching roughing minors to send them to the box.

— 13:12: The Blues have picked up some zone time since going down 4-0, but this game continues to show that their lack of skill is going to make it a severely uphill climb to get back in it. The Bruins continue to limit their space on their backchecking and make simple, clean breakouts. Barring a meltdown from Tuukka Rask or the Bruins defense, this one is academic already. Bruins can breakout and forecheck their way to an easy win here.

— 19:19: David Pastrnak has made it 4-0 Bruins. Torey Krug with another nice pass down to the net-front area to Pastrnak, who hesitates for a second before lifting the backhand over Jordan Binnington. Bruins in complete command of Game 3.

Recap: First Period

— 0:07: Sean Kuraly briefly made it 3-0 Bruins just before the end of the period. He simply gathers a loose puck and throws it on net from the top of the faceoff circle, and it gets through Jordan Binnington. The Blues challenged for offside and it appeared that Joakim Nordstrom was early, but they ruled that Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson knocked the puck into the zone himself so offside does not apply. The goal holds up and the Bruins take a potentially back-breaking three-goal lead into the third period.

— 2:20: Charlie Coyle rips a wrister past Jordan Binnington and it’s 2-0 Bruins. Coyle got the whole thing started by winning a puck battle in his own corner.

— 9:13: Bruins on the board. Patrice Bergeron gets off the schneid with a tip-in from a slick pass by Torey Krug toward the net. That’s more like it from No. 37 and the Bruins’ explosive power play. 1-0 Bruins.

— 9:34: First power play of the night for the Bruins. Interference against David Perron.

— Jordan Binnington with an excellent save on a cross-ice one-timer by David Pastrnak:

— 12:11: Tuukka Rask made a big-time stop on Vladimir Tarasenko. Good, competitive shift between the teams’ top lines. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron hooked up for a high-danger scoring chance, which started with Brad Marchand winning a loose puck along the half boards.

— 14:10: Looks like the Bergeron line has simplified its game. Making simple decisions with the puck, not trying to do too much. Has yet to result in a shot on goal, but it has resulted in deep pucks and some even-strength zone time.

— 16:58: Bruins kill it off. Four shots on the PP for the Blues and a couple of legit ones, but Tuukka Rask looked locked in.

— 18:58: Bruins will go to the PK on a tripping penalty against Jake DeBrusk. It comes just seconds after Sammy Blais laid a thunderous hit on David Backes in the corner of his own end. Upon second look, Blais’ hit is a little high. If Backes were hurt on the play Blais might have been in trouble.

— The Bruins are starting off with the line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak. So we’ll get an immediate glimpse into what kind of game this line could have in them tonight. Ideally they start finishing (and in some cases creating) scoring opportunities, but they definitely need to clean up defensively – particularly Marchand and Pastrnak.

— Bruce Cassidy announced earlier on Saturday that defenseman John Moore is officially in the lineup to replace the injured Matt Grzelcyk. Patrice Bergeron is also in the lineup, as expected, and participated in the optional pregame skate after missing practice on Friday.

Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at matthew.dolloff@bbgi.com.