David Perron scored a very controversial game winning third period goal, and Jordan Binnington made 38 saves as the St. Louis took a 3-2 Stanley Cup Finals lead with a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins in game five at TD Garden in Boston Thursday night.
The teams were scoreless after the opening period, with Boston having the better chances and outshooting the visitors 17-8. St. Louis Blues game four hero Ryan O’Reilly broke the scoreless tie 55 seconds into the second period. O’Reilly converted right in the slot in front of Boston goalie Tuuka Rask, after a no look between the legs feed from Zach Stanford behind the Bruins goal. The hosts carried most of the play, but Binnington kept them off the board. The Blues had a chance in the last few seconds of the period, but David Krejci dove across the crease to save an out of position Rask by stopping the puck with his chest.
Boston again had some real good chances early in the third to get the equalizer. Steve Kampfer hit one off the post to the right of Binnington, and Charlie McAvoy shot one wide on a 2 on 1 breakout. It looked as if the Bruins would go back to the powerplay when Tyler Bozak took out the legs of Noel Acciari just over halfway through the period. A tripping infraction was not called, and Perron would score on the ensuing play to make it 2-0 at 10:36. Perron tried to center to Bozak on a 2 on 1 down low, but his pass was blocked by Torey Krug and Perron regained possession and tucked it under Rasks left pad sending the TD Garden crowd into an outrage. Boston though would get on the board at 13:32 on a delayed penalty. Krug picked up a loose puck at the Blues blue line, skated to the high slot and passed to Jake Debrusk who one timed it past Binnington in the faceoff dots to the left of the goaltender for his fourth of the playoffs. The Bruins pulled Rask late but came up just short and now face a must win game six back in St. Louis.
Rask made 19 saves in the loss, and Boston outshot St. Louis 39-21. The Blues went 0-1 with the powerplay, while the Bruins were 0-3. Boston falls to 7-5 at home in this years playoffs, while they hold a 7-3 road record.
With the Blues on the brink of their first ever championship, the Bruins head to St. Louis Sunday in a must win game six. Faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. If Boston can win game six, the seventh and decisive game would be back at TD Garden Wednesday night.
