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One Win Away

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St. Louis Blues 5, San Jose Sharks 0

When: 3:00 PM ET, Sunday, May 19, 2019
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose
Attendance: 17,562
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

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ST. LOUIS – The team that sat dead last in the NHL when the calendar flipped to 2019 is now one win away from the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970.

That kind of turnaround sounds like a cheesy movie of the week, but it’s the scenario before the St. Louis Blues after they blasted the host San Jose Sharks 5-0 Sunday afternoon to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“We’re close,” Blues forward Patrick Maroon told reporters after the game. “We’re very close right now. I think the guys know that. It’s in the back of their heads, but we know that that’s a good hockey team over there, too, and they’re not going to give up.”

The Blues will look to close out the best-of-seven series Tuesday when they host Game 6. The winner of the series will face the Boston Bruins.

Coincidentally, the last time the Blues reached the championship round they lost to the Bruins — a victory memorialized by the famous image of Bobby Orr flying through the air after scoring the Cup-winning goal. St. Louis made the Cup final in each of its first three seasons but hasn’t returned since.

“It’s gonna be a lot of emotion and it’s important our players keep it in check,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “Our players have done a pretty good job of … focusing. I don’t expect anything different. It’s important at the start of the game (to be) simple and direct. Keep your emotions in check and not let them get out of control.”

Berube’s charges moved ahead in the series with their most dominating performance of the playoffs. Jaden Schwartz recorded a hat trick and goalie Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his first career playoff shutout as the Blues claimed their seventh win in nine road games this postseason.

“If you saw the game, you saw how good everyone on the team played,” Binnington told Sportsnet. “Everyone was outstanding, making the right decisions, playing hard and playing disciplined. That’s a good team win.”

And a costly one for the Sharks. Not only did they suffer a defeat, but the Sharks suffered through a war of attrition in what may be their final home game of the season.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Tomas Hertl didn’t play in the third period, while captain Joe Pavelski left early in the final frame after taking a hard check.

Karlsson, who appeared to aggravate a groin injury that limited him during the season, looked nothing like himself on the game’s first goal. His poor giveaway resulted in Oskar Sundqvist’s score before the six-minute mark. From there, it turned downright ugly for the hosts as the Blues took complete control.

Schwartz’s trio of goals gives him 12 in the playoffs, one more than he collected through the regular season, while Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a penalty shot and added two assists. Tarasenko has collected at least one point in every game this series.

Now, the Sharks must find a way to recover and win on the road to force a seventh game at home, which would be Thursday.

“We’ve been here before. We had to go and win in Vegas (in the first round) to get to a Game 7,” said coach Peter DeBoer, whose team has been outscored 7-1 in the last two games. “You’re never comfortable when your back’s against the wall like that, but we’ve been there before and found a way. We’re confident we can do that again.”

Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 35 shots in the loss.

–Field Level Media

Blues Power

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St. Louis Blues 2, San Jose Sharks 1

When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, May 17, 2019
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 18,496
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

ST. LOUIS  – It was readily apparent Friday that the St. Louis Blues weren’t rattled by how their latest loss happened two nights earlier.

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The first sign came when Ivan Barbashev opened the scoring in the first minute. The final sign came when they repelled San Jose’s final push to beat the Sharks 2-1 on home ice and even the Western Conference finals at two wins apiece.

“It’s huge,” Blues forward Tyler Bozak told after the victory. “Obviously, you don’t want to go down 3-1, especially when heading into their building. After what happened in Game 3 — we’re a resilient group, we fought through a lot of adversity this year — to see us come back is a great feeling.”

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will be Sunday afternoon in San Jose, Calif. The West champion will advance to meet the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final.

After falling in Game 3 in dramatic fashion — surrendering a late goal and then losing in overtime due to a winning goal coming on a play that should have been blown dead due to a hand pass — the Blues needed a strong response to even the series.

Barbashev scored just 35 seconds into the affair, Bozak netted the game-winning goal on a late first-period power play, and then goaltender Jordan Binnington made 29 saves to move himself into the history books.

“It just kinda fired us up, gave us some extra fuel,” Bozak said of the inglorious way his team was defeated in the third game. “We showed that early in the game. Obviously, San Jose’s a great hockey team and they had their push, but we were able to hold them. We’re excited to get to San Jose now.”

Binnington, who has played as big a part as anybody in the team’s turnaround from the middle of the season, becomes only the 10th rookie goalie in NHL history to win 10 or more playoff games. He’s also the first Blues netminder to record double-digit victories in a single year’s postseason.

“I think we deserved that one, for sure,” Binnington told the NHL Network after his first-star performance. “We’ve got a best-of-three left, we’ll see how we do.”

Tomas Hertl scored San Jose’s lone goal 6:48 into the third period.

The fact this is going to be a long series should surprise nobody. The Sharks continue their trend of winning odd-numbered games and losing the even-numbered affairs. It happened through all seven games of their second-round series victory over the Colorado Avalanche and has continued through four games of this set.

“You’re in the Western Conference final. It’s 2-2,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said of his team’s situation. “I feel pretty good. We have home-ice advantage. I feel good.”

Still, there are some warning signs for the Sharks.

First, star defenseman Erik Karlsson appeared to re-injure a nagging groin injury. He was on the bench for a stretch of seven minutes of the third period, though he returned in the final minutes.

Second, there is the common belief that they aren’t consistently reaching their top level.

“We can get better. We’re going to have to get better,” Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said. “It’s a great team over there, and we’re still looking for a solid 60-(minute) performance.”

–Field Level Media

Lord Stanley Calls

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Boston Bruins 4, Carolina Hurricanes 0

When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, May 16, 2019
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Attendance: 19,041
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

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RALEIGH — Boston goalie Tuukka Rask sent the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final with a 24-save outing Thursday night in a 4-0 victory against the host Carolina Hurricanes for a sweep of the Eastern Conference finals.

Patrice Bergeron scored twice after David Pastrnak opened the scoring. The first two goals came on power plays. Pastrnak assisted on both Bergeron goals, and then Brad Marchand notched an empty-net goal with 2:17 left.

By taking the best-of-seven series in four games, the Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2013, when they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Boston’s last NHL title came in 2011.

The Bruins await the winner of the Western Conference finals, in which the San Jose Sharks hold a 2-1 lead over the St. Louis Blues.

The Hurricanes hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2009, and that run also ended with a sweep in the conference finals (by the Pittsburgh Penguins). They were hoping to force Game 5 back in Boston on Saturday night.

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Carolina goalie Curtis McElhinney made 19 saves in his second start of the series. He was pulled with about 5 1/2 minutes left, and the extra skater didn’t help.

The Hurricanes had been splendid in winning all five of their home playoff games until Rask arrived this week, first starring Tuesday night in Boston’s 2-1 victory.

The Bruins had the first ideal scoring chance, with Marchand’s shot on a rebound denied by McElhinney in the first period.

Pastrnak’s seventh goal of the postseason came when Marchand returned a pass to him at 4:46 of the second period. It was the sixth power-play goal of the series for Boston.

The Hurricanes had several sequences of extended time in the Boston zone in the second before Bergeron converted on the power play with 1:26 remaining in the period.

Carolina had just four second-period shots and one through the first 10 minutes of the third period.

Bergeron notched his eighth goal of the postseason at 10:32 of the third period, and Marchand added his seventh.

Boston played without defenseman Zdeno Chara, who was a penalty-killing standout in Game 3. The team listed him as day-to-day due to an undisclosed injury, as his streak of 98 consecutive playoff games for the Bruins came to an end. John Moore took his spot.

The Bruins put center Noel Acciari in the lineup on the fourth line for his 12th game of the postseason to fill in for right winger Chris Wagner, who was out because of an arm injury sustained late in Game 3.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Are Locked On ‘Canes

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RALEIGH — The Boston Bruins have been in some binds in the postseason, but they don’t want the luxury of a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals to distract them from the mission.

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The Bruins will try to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Final when they go for a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at PNC Arena.

“It’s a good spot to be in,” Bruins left winger Brad Marchand told reporters of the 3-0 lead. “But it’s far from being over. … It’s all about the next one.”

Boston was forced to seven games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, then trailed the best-of-seven series against the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 before winning in six.

Now, the Bruins have won six straight games, delivering the Hurricanes a home loss for the first time in the playoffs with Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory in Game 3.

“This year we feel like we really have each other’s backs,” Boston goalie Tuukka Rask said. “We’ve been in some tight games.”

If the Bruins fail to sweep the series, the teams will go back to Boston for Game 5 on Saturday night.

Rask has stopped 85 of 90 shots faced (.944) in the series.

“Guys have played with Tuukka for a while now,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They know what he’s made of. … (Since the playoffs began), he hasn’t really had a poor night.”

The Hurricanes haven’t been quite as settled in the net. Curtis McElhinney made his first appearance of the series by playing Game 3 after the Bruins posted 11 total goals (one into an empty net) in the first two games with Petr Mrazek in net for Carolina. The team has yet to officially announce a Game 4 starter.

The Hurricanes won two elimination games against the Washington Capitals last month. They’ll need four of those in this round.

“It’s frustrating, for sure,” Hurricanes left winger Warren Foegele said of the situation. “Just take it day by day. We believe.”

The Hurricanes made progress in Game 3, something they’ll aim to build off as they attempt to extend their season.

“I think you can feel good about the fact that we at least gave them a game,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “To me, we hadn’t given them a game yet.”

That was accomplished in Game 3 — in which Carolina outshot Boston 36-31 but left without the desired result — for the first time in a series the Hurricanes entered riding a six-game winning streak.

Yet the Bruins won’t take anything for granted for Game 4.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Boston right winger David Backes said of the road venue. “It’s a tough place to win.”

The Bruins’ six-game win streak is the franchise’s longest in the postseason since 1978.

One glaring difference between the teams has been power-play production. The Bruins own a 31.9 percent success rate (15 of 47) this postseason on power plays compared to Carolina’s 10 percent (5 of 50).

Boston has relied heavily at times on veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara, who played extended stretches. His penalty killing was crucial again in Game 3, as Carolina went scoreless in five power-play opportunities.

“He relishes those situations, he’s going to give it his all,” Cassidy said. “Really tough minutes for him. He was a rock for us.”

The Bruins will be without right winger Chris Wagner, who sustained an arm injury when he was hit by slap shot late in Game 3.

–Field Level Media

Stanley Cup Scout:

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Boston Bruins at Carolina

When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote

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RALEIGH – The Carolina Hurricanes have been perfect at home through the first two rounds of the playoffs and they will need to keep that streak intact if they hope to get back into the Easten Conference finals. After getting blown out in back-to-back losses in Boston, the Hurricanes face a must-win situation when they host the Bruins in Game 3 tonight.

Although Carolina overcame a 2-0 series deficit against reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington in the opening round, the team needs to make a statement that it can play with Boston. “Playoffs are all about putting pressure on the other team and seeing how they do with a little bit of pressure,” captain Justin Williams said. “So we need to get a win … and then push back a little bit and see how they respond. Just squeeze the other team a little bit. They’ve squeezed us twice. We need to do a little bit of punching back.”

The Bruins came from behind to win each of their first two series but they have outscored the Hurricanes 11-4 in extending their postseason winning streak to five games. “It’s 2-0, that’s good,” goaltender Tuukka Rask said after his team scored the first six goals in Sunday’s 6-2 drubbing. “We took care of business at home, which is what we wanted to do.”

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS

ABOUT THE BRUINS: Perhaps the best sign for Boston in the Game 2 mauling was that its vaunted No. 1 unit contributed only two assists while the third line of Charlie Coyle, Marcus Johansson and Dalton Heinen combined for seven points to boost their totals to 11 goals and 17 assists in the playoffs. “Depth scoring is so crucial for playoffs,” defenseman Torey Krug said. “I said it all along that if we were going to make it and go on a run, it was going to be those bottom two lines that feed energy into this team and score big timely goals and we’re going to need that going forward.” Krug and his fellow blue-liners did their part Sunday by supplying three goals and three assists.

ABOUT THE HURRICANES: Petr Mrazek was hurt in Game 2 of the second round against the New York Islanders and did not return until the series opener against Boston, but he said the injury and subsequent layoff were not factors in giving up 10 goals in the first two games. “I’m feeling good, no issue with that,” Mrazek said. “I don’t think it was that long a break, maybe nine or 10 days. I was feeling pretty good. I’m not going to look past, just look forward to the next one.” Coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged that he is contemplating a change in net for Game 3, which would mean a switch to Curtis McElhinney, who earned three wins by turning aside 71 of 75 shots in 7 1/2 periods against New York.

OVERTIME

  1. Krug became the fifth Boston defenseman to register three assists in multiple games in the postseason.
  2. Hurricanes F Teuvo Teravainen has scored four times in four games to lift his team-high total to seven goals.
  3. Boston is 4-for-9 on the power play versus Carolina and has had 19 different players score in the playoffs, matching a franchise record.

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