There’s just one game left in the 2018-19 NHL season, and it’s Game 7. The Bruins and Blues are battling it out one last time in Boston. The winner will be handed the Stanley Cup, and the loser will be heartbroken.
Following a gutsy Game 6 win with their backs up against the wall, the Bruins have the momentum and the home crowd in their favor. Can Tuukka Rask stand on his head in a potential elimination game for Boston? He’s already done so multiple times in these playoffs.
The Blues know a thing or two about adversity, though. This is the team that was in last place on the first day of 2019. They turned their regular season around, made the playoffs, and are now just one game away from winning their first ever Stanley Cup.
CBS Sports is here to keep you updated on everything happening. Follow our live blog of the game below and come back afterwards for an entire recap and takeaways from Game 7.
Game 7 updates
CBS Sports will be following along live with all of the action of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Bruins and Blues. If you are unable to view the live application below, please click here.
Boston has no answers, little life through two periods
After starting so aggressively and effectively in the first period, the Bruins seemed as if they’d slip one past Jordan Binnington in no time. The subsequent 35 or so minutes, however, proved Boston’s early surge may have been nothing more than a mirage. Even with St. Louis managing just six shots on goal at the halfway point of Game 7, the Blues were in total control for the entirety of period two, squashing any hope of a quick rebound for the Bs on their home ice with a defensive clinic, particularly in transition through the neutral zone.
More Binnington stonewalling sucked more life out of not only Boston’s scarily quiet first line but a TD Garden crowd that at one point dished New England Patriots Super Bowl highlights in order to spark cheers.
If not for some help from the crossbar, Tuukka Rask may have also surrendered a third Blues goal in the second.
Blues strike first — and second — despite Bruins’ early dominance
The Bruins had everything going for them to start Game 7. Right out of the gate, they absolutely peppered Jordan Binnington with shots and had great movement in scoring range. They limited St. Louis to just one shot on goal more than 10 minutes into the opening period. A nonsensical delay of game on an airmailed pass by Colton Parayko even gave Boston the first extra-man advantage of the night. But Binnington refused to back down, blanking Boston with a number of close stops.
Ryan O’Reilly, meanwhile, rewarded Binnington’s perseverance by putting the Blues on the board first with 3:13 left in the opening period, tipping a hard shot from Sammy Blais past Rask and setting a franchise record with 22 career postseason points in the process.
If St. Louis’ sudden lead seemed improbable due to the Bruins’ obvious energy advantage early in the game, Alex Pietrangelo ensured TD Garden would keep quiet for a while longer. He charged the net during a bad change for the Bruins and put the puck past Rask to increase the Blues’ lead to 2-0 with 7.9 seconds left in the first.
