| 2019 Stanley Cup Finals |
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 |
| * – Denotes overtime period(s) |
| | Location: | St. Louis: Enterprise Center (3, 4, 6)
Boston: TD Garden (1, 2, 5, 7) |
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| Format: | Best-of-seven |
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| Coaches: | St. Louis: Craig Berube (interim)
Boston: Bruce Cassidy | | Captains: | St. Louis: Alex Pietrangelo
Boston: Zdeno Chara | | National anthem: | St. Louis: Charles Glenn, vocalist & Jeremy Boyer, organist
Boston: Todd Angilly, vocalist & Ron Poster, organist | | Referees: | Gord Dwyer (2, 4, 6, 7), Steve Kozari (1, 3, 5), Chris Rooney (2, 4, 6, 7), Kelly Sutherland (1, 3, 5) | | Dates: | May 27 – June 12 | | MVP: | Ryan O'Reilly (Blues) | Series-winning
goal: | Alex Pietrangelo (19:52, First, G7) | | Networks: | Canada (English): CBC/Sportsnet
Canada (French): TVA Sports
United States (English): NBC/NBCSN | | Announcers: | (CBC/SN) Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson
(TVA) Felix Seguin, Patrick Lalime, Renaud Lavoie
(NBC/NBCSN) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire |
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The 2019 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2018–19 season and the culmination of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins four games to three to win their first championship, in their 51st season of play (not including the 2004–05 lockout), ending the third longest championship drought in league history. The Bruins had home-ice advantage in this best-of-seven playoff series with the better regular season record. The series began on May 27 and concluded on June 12.[1] Their Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games tied the 2014 Los Angeles Kings for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.
This was a rematch of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, which Boston won in four, the fourth consecutive Finals to both involve at least one team vying for its first championship and end with the champion clinching the Cup on the road, and the first time since 2011 where the Finals went the full seven games.
Until this year, the Blues were the oldest franchise to have never won a Stanley Cup. That distinction is now shared by the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks, as both teams were founded in 1970 and are without a Stanley Cup to their name. St. Louis also became the last surviving 1967 NHL expansion team to win their first Stanley Cup, joining the Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars (originally the Minnesota North Stars) and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Paths to the Finals
Boston Bruins
- This was the Boston Bruins' 20th appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, six years after 2013, when they faced the Chicago Blackhawks and were defeated in six games. The Bruins last won the Stanley Cup in 2011, their sixth Cup in franchise history.[2]
Brad Marchand became the first Bruin since the 2005–06 season to score 100 points, finishing the regular season with 100 points in 79 games. David Pastrnak led the team in goals with 38. Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak split the goaltending duties during the regular season.[3] Halak had signed with the team during the off-season,[4] and approaching the trade deadline the Bruins acquired forwards Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson.[5]
Boston finished the regular season with 107 points, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division and third overall in the league.[6] In the First Round of the playoffs, they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games for the second consecutive playoff meeting against the Maple Leafs and third since the 2012–13 season.[7] They then defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4–2 in the Second Round.[8] In the Conference Finals, Boston swept the Carolina Hurricanes 4–0.[9]
St. Louis Blues
- This was the St. Louis Blues' fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Their last appearance in the Finals was in 1970 against the Bruins, which Boston won in a four-game sweep. All of St. Louis' prior appearances came during their first three seasons after the Blues and five other new teams formed the West Division in the 1967 NHL expansion. While the Blues were able to advance past their fellow expansion franchises, each Finals appearance ended with them being swept by Original Six teams that comprised the East Division, concluding with their 1970 defeat. In the years that followed, the other expansion teams from 1967 would win Stanley Cup titles of their own (excluding the defunct California Golden Seals franchise), but the Blues went nearly half a century without reaching the Finals again and became the oldest franchise not to win the Stanley Cup.[10]
Ryan O'Reilly, who was acquired via trade in the off-season[11] led the team in scoring with 77 points and assists with 49. Vladimir Tarasenko led the team in goal-scoring with 33 goals.[12]
St. Louis struggled early in the regular season, beginning the year with a 7–9–3 record. Head coach Mike Yeo was fired and assistant coach Craig Berube named interim coach.[13] Their record declined to an NHL-worst 15–18–4 record with 34 points on January 2, 2019. Then the Blues went on a 30–10–5 run to finish the season with 99 points, third in the Central Division.[14] Amid their turnaround, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington was given his first start and went on to obtain 23 wins.[15] In the playoffs, St. Louis defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4–2 in the First Round, eliminated the Dallas Stars in seven games, and won 4–2 against the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Finals.[16]
Game summaries
- Note: All times listed are in EDT (UTC−4).
- Number in parenthesis represents the player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire four rounds of the playoffs
Game one
In game one, Brayden Schenn scored the first goal of the Finals for the Blues, firing a wrist shot past Tuukka Rask. In the second period, Bruins forward David Pastrnak mistakenly passed back to an open Schenn who gave the puck to Vladimir Tarasenko who doubled the lead for St. Louis. The Bruins quickly scored after, as Connor Clifton's shot deflected off of goalie Jordan Binnington's stick. Charlie McAvoy then tied the game on the power play speeding through the Blues zone to put one past Binnington. In the third period, Boston gained the lead as a net-mouth scramble ended up on Sean Kuraly's stick who fired it past Binnington. The Bruins continued their shot output, placing ten more on Binnington before being pulled. Brad Marchand sealed the Bruins victory after a successful defensive zone face-off put the puck into the Blues' zone and the forward shot it into the empty net.[17]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| STL
|
8
|
3
|
9
|
20
|
| BOS
|
8
|
18
|
12
|
38
|
Game two
In game two, Boston scored the first goal when Samuel Blais was given a penalty for goaltender interference and Charlie Coyle put the puck past St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington. The Blues struck back when Robert Bortuzzo's shot deflected off of Matt Grzelcyk and squeaked past Tuukka Rask on the short side. The Bruins scored 40 seconds later to take the lead again with Joakim Nordstrom moving around the St. Louis defenceman and backhanding his shot past Binnington. Vladimir Tarasenko then tied the game for the Blues when his shot rebounded off of Rask and backhanded his shot into the open net. In the second period, the Blues dominated in shots fourteen to six but neither team scored. However, Blues forward Tyler Bozak was high-sticked resulting in an injury to the forward; St. Louis was granted a 4-minute power-play. The teams were even in shots in the third period, but with no scoring, the game went into overtime. During the overtime period, Bruins defenceman Brandon Carlo tripped up Alexander Steen and on the delayed penalty, Carl Gunnarsson fired a slap shot past Rask giving St. Louis their first victory in the Finals in franchise history and tying the series 1–1.[18]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
OT
|
Total
|
| STL
|
10
|
14
|
9
|
4
|
37
|
| BOS
|
8
|
6
|
9
|
0
|
23
|
Game three
In game three, Boston took over the first period with three unanswered goals. The first came from Patrice Bergeron on the power-play. The next came from Charlie Coyle whose wrist shot got past Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. The last goal came from Sean Kuraly with less than ten seconds in the period; the goal was unsuccessfully challenged on an offside review. With power-play given to the Bruins from the failed offside challenge, David Pastrnak capitalized in the second period, backhanding his shot past Binnington. The Blues were able to get on the board as Zach Sanford passed to an open Ivan Barbashev for his third goal of the playoffs. However, the Bruins quickly had their four-goal restored when Colton Parayko was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking and Torey Krug cashed in for Boston's third power-play goal of the game. Binnington was pulled from the game following this goal and replaced with Jake Allen. In the third period, a roughing penalty by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara proved costly as Parayko scored on the given power-play, his slap shot deflecting off of Brandon Carlo. Although the Blues out shot the Bruins eleven to four, beyond the one goal, St. Louis could not get another past Tuukka Rask. Bruins forward Noel Acciari scored an empty-net goal to add insurance. Boston added another power-play goal with Marcus Johansson's slap shot cleanly beating Allen finalizing the score at 7–2. The Bruins scored on every power-play that they had in the game scoring four goals on only four shots.[19]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| BOS
|
12
|
8
|
4
|
24
|
| STL
|
8
|
10
|
11
|
29
|
Game four
In game four, Ryan O'Reilly scored first for the Blues, scoring a wrap-around goal 43 seconds into the game. The Bruins counter-attacked when Zdeno Chara shot at Jordan Binnington and the rebound went to Charlie Coyle who slid it past the Blues goaltender. The Blues regained the lead when Alex Pietrangelo's shot rebounded to Vladimir Tarasenko firing a wrist shot past Tuukka Rask. In the second period, with Boston forward Connor Clifton resigned to the penalty box for an illegal check to the head, the Bruins, shorthanded, tied the game as Brandon Carlo picked up a rebound to shoot it past Binnington. Midway through the third period, however, the Blues regained the lead with a rebound going to O'Reilly. The Blues staved off the Bruins, limiting Boston's shots to five. Brayden Schenn sealed the game's final score at 4–2 with an empty-net goal tying the series at 2–2.[20]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| BOS
|
9
|
10
|
4
|
23
|
| STL
|
13
|
12
|
13
|
38
|
Game five
In game five, the Bruins piled on seventeen shots in the first period, but Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington held down the fort. The Blues got the first goal of the game in the second period as Ryan O'Reilly backhanded a shot past Tuukka Rask. The Bruins continued the pressure into the third period. In the third period, controversy occurred when Blues forward Tyler Bozak tripped Noel Acciari, and no penalty was called on the play. With play continuing, David Perron scored with the puck deflecting off Rask into the net. The Bruins got on the board with less than seven minutes remaining when Oskar Sundqvist high-sticked Torey Krug, causing a delayed penalty, and the Boston defenceman passed to an open Jake DeBrusk who fired it past Binnington. The Blues played defensively for the final minutes to win the game 2–1 and lead the series 3–2.[21]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| STL
|
8
|
6
|
7
|
21
|
| BOS
|
17
|
8
|
14
|
39
|
Game six
In game six, after both Brayden Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly were sent to the penalty box for boarding and delay of game respectively, Boston forward Brad Marchand scored on the resulting 5-on-3 power play. In the second period, both teams were relatively even in shots, Boston with eight and St. Louis with ten, but neither team scored. In the third period, Bruins defenceman Brandon Carlo shot a bouncing puck towards Jordan Binnington which snuck under the Blues goaltender's blocker for the second goal of the game. Karson Kuhlman gave Boston a three goal lead with his first goal of the playoffs. St. Louis got on the board when O'Reilly's shot appeared to cross the goal line after a video replay. The Bruins regained their three-goal lead when the Blues in a defensive scramble left David Pastnak alone in front of the net and he fired the puck past Binnington. The Blues pulled Binnington in an attempt to tie the game, but Zdeno Chara sealed the victory for the Bruins finalizing the score at 5–1 and sending the series to a seventh game.[22]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| BOS
|
12
|
8
|
12
|
32
|
| STL
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
29
|
Game seven
In game seven, Jay Bouwmeester's shot got through a screen of players and Ryan O'Reilly tipped the puck past Tuukka Rask for the opening goal. The Blues increased their lead with eight seconds remaining in the first period when Jaden Schwartz passed to an open Alex Pietrangelo who backhanded his shot for his third goal of the playoffs. Boston continued to pressure St. Louis in the second period with eleven shots, but Jordan Binnington kept the score at 2–0. In the third period, Vladimir Tarasenko followed the puck into the Bruins' zone and passed to an open Brayden Schenn who fired the puck past Rask. Zach Sanford made the score 4–0 as the Blues continued to work in the offensive zone, with David Perron working around the Bruins defenceman to pass to the open rookie forward. The Bruins then swapped Rask for an extra attacker and thwarted Binnington's shutout attempt with a goal from Matt Grzelcyk.[23] With the 4–1 victory, the Blues became the last remaining expansion franchise from 1967 to win the Stanley Cup.[24] O'Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.[23]
| Shots by period
|
| Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
| STL
|
4
|
6
|
10
|
20
|
| BOS
|
12
|
11
|
10
|
33
|
Team rosters
Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.
Boston Bruins
St. Louis Blues
Stanley Cup presentation and engraving
The Stanley Cup was presented to Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The following players and staff qualified to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:
Roster
- Goaltenders
^ - Also played Wing
- Non-players
- Tom Stillman (Chairman/Governor),
- Doug Armstrong (President of Hockey Operations and General Manager/Alt. Governor)
- Chris Zimmerman (President/CEO of Business Operations/Alt. Governor)
- Dave Taylor (Vice President of Hockey Ops.)
- Bill Armstrong (Asst. General Manager/Director of Amateur Scouting)
- Al MacInnis (Senior Advisor to the General Manager)
- Larry Pleau (Senior Advisor of Amateur Scouting)
- Craig Berube (Head Coach)
- Mike Van Ryn (Asst. Coach)
- Steve Ott (Asst. Coach)
- Larry Robinson (Senior Consultant of Hockey Ops./Asst. Coach)
- Sean Ferrell (Video Coach)
- David Alexander (Goaltending Coach)
- Glen Wesley (Development Coach)
- Dave Rogalski (Development Coach)
- Rob DiMaio (Director of Player Personnel)
- Tim Taylor (Director of Player Development)
- Ryan Miller (Director of Hockey Operations)
- Rich Jankowski (Sr. Director of Team Services)
- Ray Barile (Athletic Trainer)
- Dustin Flynn (Asst. Athletic Trainer)
- Eric Renaghan (Strength & Conditioning Coach)
- Joe Fransworth (Equipment Manager)
- Rich Matthews (Asst. Equipment Manager)
Player notes
- Mackenzie MacEachern – played 29 regular season games, did not play in the playoffs
- Jordan Schmaltz – played 20 regular season games, did not play in the playoffs
- Jordan Kyrou – played 16 regular season games, did not play in the playoffs
- Jordan Nolan – played 14 regular season games, did not play in the playoffs
- Chris Butler – played 13 regular season games, did not play in the playoffs
- Michael Del Zotto – played 7 regular season games for St. Louis (along with 23 for Vancouver and 12 for Anaheim), did not play in the playoffs
- Chris Thorburn – played 1 regular season game, did not play in the playoffs
TV and radio
In Canada, the series was broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC Television in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the U.S., the Finals were split between NBC (Games 1, and 4 through 7) and NBCSN (Games 2 and 3).[25]
In the United States, the seven-game series averaged 5.3 million viewers, the highest average since the six-game 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. St. Louis had an average 28.7 rating, and Boston had an average 25.5.[26] Game 7 had an average 8.7 million viewers, being the most watched NHL game in nearly 50 years.[27][28]
Notes
- ↑ "Stanley Cup Final schedule", NHL Enterprises, L.P., May 17, 2019.
- ↑ Bruins history in the Stanley Cup Final. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC (June 7, 2013). Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ 2018-19 Boston Bruins Roster and Statistics. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bruins sign goaltender Jaroslav Halak to two-year contract. Rogers Media (July 1, 2018). Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Porter, Matt. "Deadline pickups Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson are the real deal", Boston Globe, May 10, 2019. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ NHL Hockey Standings. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Pierce, Charles P. (April 24, 2019). Supporting Cast Powers Bruins Past Maple Leafs and Into East Semis. TI Gotham, Inc.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Hedger, Brian. "Boston delivers knockout blow", The Columbus Dispatch, May 7, 2019. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ "Hurricanes fall to Bruins in game 4", The News & Observer, May 16, 2019. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bell, Josh (April 1, 2019). Longest Stanley Cup Droughts. The Hockey Writers. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Calvin (July 1, 2018). BREAKING: Ryan O’Reilly traded in blockbuster deal. Vox Media, Inc.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ 2018-19 St. Louis Blues Roster and Statistics. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Evans, Jake (November 20, 2018). St. Louis Blues fire head coach Mike Yeo after disappointing start. USA Today. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Panula, Todd. St. Louis Blues Miraculous Turnaround Still Depends On Playoffs. FanSided Inc.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Pinkert, Chris (April 4, 2019). Binnington sets franchise record for rookie goalie wins. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Wagoner, Nick (June 8, 2019). How the Blues' Stanley Cup run has revitalized St. Louis. ESPN Enterprises, Inc.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bruins rally past Blues, win Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final (en-US).
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (May 29, 2019). Gunnarsson's goal lifts Blues to Game 2 win in Cup Finals against Bruins. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on May 29, 2019.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (June 1, 2019). Bruins blitz Blues in Game 3, take lead in Stanley Cup Final. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 3, 2019.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (June 3, 2019). Blues defeat Bruins in Game 4, even Stanley Cup Final. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (June 6, 2019). Blues hold on for Game 5 win against Bruins, lead Stanley Cup Final. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (June 9, 2019). Bruins deny Blues in Game 6 to extend Stanley Cup Final. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 12, 2019.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Rosen, Dan (June 12, 2019). Blues win Stanley Cup for first time, defeat Bruins in Game 7 of Final. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. Retrieved on June 12, 2019.
- ↑ Regan, J.J. (June 13, 2019). Caps fans should be happy the Blues won the Stanley Cup. “Of the five other expansion teams in their division, the Blues are the only team still in existence that had not won a Cup. The only other team that did not was the Oakland Seals.”
- ↑ NBC Sports (April 3, 2019). NBC Sports Group to Present Every Stanley Cup Playoff Game For Eighth Consecutive Season. Press release. Retrieved on April 25, 2019.
- ↑ Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final most-watched in four years - Paulsen, Sports Media Watch, 13 June 2019
- ↑ Crupi, Anthony (June 14, 2019). Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is an All-Timer for NBC. “Anyone looking to find the NHL games that posted bigger numbers than Wednesday night’s broadcast has to go back nearly 50 years”
- ↑ Paulsen (June 13, 2019). Stanley Cup Final Game 7 sets ratings, viewership marks. Sports Media Watch.
References
Further reading
External links
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| NHL on NBC |
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| Related programs | NHL Awards Show - NHL Live - NHL on NBC Radio - Olympics on NBC
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| Related articles | Ratings - History of the NHL on United States television - Stanley Cup Finals television ratings
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| Commentators | All-Star Game - NHL Entry Draft - Outdoor games - Stanley Cup playoffs (Original Six era) - Stanley Cup Finals (American television) |
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| Key figures | Kenny Albert - Marv Albert - Brendan Burke - Chris Cuthbert - Ken Daniels - Win Elliot - Mike Emrick - Pat Foley - John Forslund - Randy Hahn - Jim Jackson - Gord Miller - Rick Peckham - Tim Ryan - Dave Strader
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| Stanley Cup Finals | 1966 (Games 1, 4) - 1973 (Games 1, 4–6) - 1974 (Games 3, 6) - 1975 (Games 2, 5) - 2006 (Games 3–7) - 2007 (Games 3–5) - 2008 (Games 3–6) - 2009 (Games 1–2, 5–7) - 2010 (Games 1–2, 5–6) - 2011 (Games 1–2, 5–7) - 2012 (Games 1–2, 5–6) - 2013 (Games 1, 4–6) - 2014 (Games 1–2, 5) - 2015 (Games 1–2, 5–6) - 2016 (Games 1, 4–6) - 2017 (Games 1, 4-6) - 2018 (Games 1, 4-5) - 2019 (Games 1, 4-7)
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| All-Star Game | 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019
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| Outdoor games | * 2017 Centennial Classic
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| Culture/Lore | Hockey Weekend Across America - Peter Puck - Kraft Hockeyville |
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| Rivalries | Flyers–Rangers - Flyers–Penguins - Blackhawks–Red Wings |
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| Website: NBC Sports - NHL News |
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