On Thursday evening, the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins met for the first time this season. The match took place at TD Garden in Boston, the same arena where the Blues defeated the Bruins to win their first Stanley Cup in 2019. But that was the past and this is the present. In the present, the Bruins defeated the Blues 5-2. Let’s see how we got here tonight.
Foreplay
Thursday was a big night for Blues forward Aleksanteri Kaskimaki. Kaskimaki played his first NHL game on Thursday. As a result, he had the honor of his rookie round during warmups, taking the ice before the rest of the team.
First period
The Bruins scored first after a misplay by the Blues. After Jordan failed to dump Kyrou into the opponent’s zone, the Bruins caught the Blues on a line change and had the odd rush. Morgan Geekie found Alex Steeves, who one-timed the puck for a 1-0 lead at 6:30 of the game.
Later in the period, Steeves won some puck battles in the offensive zone corner. Steeves managed to get the puck free from Elias Lindholm, who passed it wide to Geekie, who scored his 21st goal of the season.
Related: From Waiver Wire to Bruins Sniper: The Evolution of Morgan Geekie
Both teams scored double figures in shots on goal, with the Bruins trailing the Blues, 14-10.
Second Period
The Blues cut the lead in half just 1:59 into the second period on a goal from Pavel Buchnevich. It was a big goal for the Blues, who were hoping the early goal would be a turning point in the match.
However, the Bruins would restore their two-goal lead about five minutes later. Viktor Arvidsson scored his 400th career point by firing in a rebound off the boards. Pavel Zacha scored his sixth goal of the season at 12:26, pushing Boston’s lead to 4-1.
Zacha wasn’t ready for the second period, although he came close. After a faceoff win in the offensive zone on the power play, the Bruins got the puck toward the net, and Zacha buried a pass from Geekie with less than a second on the clock.
Despite outscoring the Blues 3-1 in the second period, the Bruins were outscored 15-8.
Third Period
The Blues cut the deficit to 5-2 with just under 11 minutes remaining. Pius Suter scored on a second-chance attempt in front of the net. That would be the only goal of the period, making the final score 5-2.
The Blues defeated the Bruins 14-5 in the final period. Before the match they outscored them 39-27.
What’s next?
The Blues head to Canada on Saturday for their second and final meeting of the season with the Ottawa Senators. The Bruins also play Saturday and host the New Jersey Devils.
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