Saturday night should be fun. I thought about trekking over the STL for the game, but nosebleed seats are running $1200+ each. The bars on the lake will be mobbed with Blues fans though so we’ll boat over early and get a good table on one of the decks.

It's weird seeing Bergeron and Marchand struggle this bad at the same time. Everyone is focusing on Marchand's turnovers last night - for good reason - but Bergeron has been almost as bad and as the better two-way player he's just GOT to be better. That said, people in Boston are severely underrating ROR and Schenn - they act like Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak should dominate the Blues top line and only talk about Tarasenko as an elite talent but the other two are fantastic players who play great two-way hockey.

Anyway, the Blues adjustment seemed to be 'hit everything that moves'. My god was that an old-school hockey game from them last night. I think the B's blue line was gassed by the 3rd being down a man but that aside it was a game where the Blues asserted their will. The Enterprise Center is gonna be ROCKING Saturday night, the Bruins will have to weather an absolute storm the first ten minutes but if they can settle into their game and the top line starts playing better I think we're still looking at a very even series and one I expect the B's to win. But last night was big for STL, and hopefully fewer hockey fans (especially fellow B's fans) recognize just how good this Blues team is when they're on their game.

There's talk that Bergeron may have a pulled groin and is playing through it.

Bruins playing their game and a strong first period in game 3. Strange to see the Bruins being the faster and more skilled team going against a more physical team. I love Terasenko, but not seeing much else on the Blues.

The offsides challenge backfired, gave the Bruins a power to start the second and they cashed in. Blues are trying to run them out of the building but taking themselves out of the play in doing so. Bruins winning the races to loose pucks and the first line showed up to play.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Bruins looked dominant in game 3. Will the Blues be able to muster some response? Seems like chippy/nasty, heavy and try to frustrate the B’s is their only hope. Tuukka rock solid and Blues goalies shaky.

Looking forward to next two games.

Blues went back to a heavy forechecking game tonight and it paid off. Bruins chased the game all night and it's 2-2.

Wouldn't be surprised if Chara has a broken jaw where he didn't take a single shift in the third period despite the full shield.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Yeah. Blues did what they needed to bounce back. Brutal forecheck and an amazing stretch leading into the penalty and bad short handed goal. I figured they were toast after that , but they recovered and continued to bring it hard throughout the third period.

Chara had no ice time and didn’t appear to talk on the bench following the injury. I’d guess your correct and he has a broken jaw. If he can’t go Boston is running short on defensemen.

The Athletic and multiple local news outlets reporting broken jaw but nothing official from the team just yet. Next man up.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Both Chara and Grzelyck game-time decisions for tonight where they both practiced this morning. Bruins haven't officially confirmed the much reported broken jaw (calling it a "facial injury"), but the fact that he is providing written Q&A to the media because he can't speak suggests as much. Pretty gutsy if he does play where the slightest amount of contact will be painful where the bottom of the fishbowl shield rests against his chin.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

The Bruins crying about non-calls is rich.

One more win for my Blues!

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Their best players haven't been their best players. First two lines have been invisible in the games that St. Louis has won, and the Blues have kept it simple by playing a physical game and going hard to the net rather than making one pass too many or trying to do too much with the puck.

Rask has been outstanding and Krug their most consistent player. Last night was a game that everyone needed to show up (huge set of huevos on Chara) but that didn't happen.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I'm sorry, did the Bruins score a GWG against the Blues as a direct result of a clear infraction?

As Cassidy said, the officiating seemed to have changed after Berube complained to the league. Why that is I don't know but I thought the Johanssen headshot was a clear penalty and the Acciari trip/slewfoot was just an egregious non-call.

That aside, the Bruins were the better team in the first, Blues started skating better after that but Boston needed a goal in the first, seems like the wind came out of their sails having so many opportunities and nothing to show for it. The line shuffling by the B's seemed to impact some chemistry too, though I do think it was worth having 7 D with Chara in there. He's huge on the PK and just as a morale booster/team leader.

Game 6 the B's will have Gryzlyk back and probably are more traditional 6 D/12F. Playing for their lives, and maybe playing a little pissed. We'll see, I wish the game was Saturday.

The Bruins got away with so much shit against the Leafs in round one, in particular Chara and McAvoy interfered on pretty much every dump in. Marchand last night got away with a low bridge hit/interference on Tarasenko.

Oh and the Bruins had 3 pp to the Blues 1.

Yeah the refs blew that call but spare me the fucking violins for how hard done by the Bruins are.

Coaches complain. Cassidy whined after the refs missed a slew foot call in round one.

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

First period was key last night as the ice was tilted in the Blues end the whole period, yet it remained scoreless. Bruins had an 11-2 shot advantage at one point and finished the period 17-8; Binnington got help from his D on one or two that squibbed through but kept them in the game.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

They rarely call dump-in interference in the regular season, nevermind the playoffs. If that's your biggest gripe from the Leafs series then I'm sorry, not much to bitch about IMO and I'm not sure how it's at all relevant to this series.

Sure, and the Blues got away with multiple headshots on Krug and Johanssen, what's your point?

If one team does ten things that warrant a penalty and get three penalties; another team has two penalty-worthy plays and gets one penalty, which team gets the short end of the penalty stick? It ain't team one.

Who said anything about violins? Like it or not it's a HUGE call - yeah it was a clear penalty, but directly off that play (and non-call) a goal was scored, late in a 1-0 game. That said the Bruins needed to play better, they HAD to bury one in the first, their first line has to be better. Johanssen, Coyle, Krug, McAvoy, Carlo and Pastrnak (at least this game) have all played fantastic. Everyone else needs to step their game up.

Chara: Liability last night? Or is it team leader, captain, inspiration play with busted jaw? Crossed signals with McAvoy and not skating well is what I saw?

Why did they go 7D?

To your first point: Chara was absolutely an inspirational team leader getting out there three days after busting his jaw. Nothing he did on the ice cost them goals, he didn't play particularly well but who can blame him? He had limited minutes and he was a net positive on the PK which is his biggest attribute at this stage anyway. Communication is an issue, if you can't communicate with your D partner you're at a disadvantage.

7D was twofold (IMO): 1. Chara was limited in what he could bring them and they had Moore and Kampfer who aren't great options, better to go 7 D and spread the minutes for Chara, Kampfer and Moore based on situation and faceoff zone. Additionally, Backes hasn't brought them anything this series, Cassidy said after game 4 that the forwards have to be better and I think this was a way to shake things up offensively. It didn't work BUT they did have the majority of chances in the game, the issue is their top guys (Bergeron and Marchand most glaringly) aren't giving them crap in 5v5.

I expect 6 D on Sunday, with Chara and Gryz back and a regular D/F rotation. Backes back in the lineup, in STL vs his old team after sitting a game you better believe he'll have something to prove. I said it earlier, if the B's don't win game 6 they don't deserve the series, it's a must-win and a few things are in their favor (Backes motivation; anger over non-call; filled-out D corp) I don't care where this game is if the Bruins don't absolutely dominate then the Blues heavy forecheck will have officially gotten to them and they'd be deserving SC champs. But I think the B's WILL pull things together and win comfortably, then all bets are off in a winner-take-all game 7.

My point is that the Bruins get away with tons of shit. Geez, just watch Marchand play once in a while. There was plenty of extra curricular shit that he got away with in that Leafs series. Hell, Chara drilled JT with a punch to the back of the head in a scrum hard enough to knock him down. Nothing.

Kadri (purposely) bumped into a player going back to the bench... that's a penalty. Marchand does the same thing the next game. Nothing.

I have plenty of examples.

So to hear Bruins coaches and fans whinging about a missed call is laughable.

You had three power plays. The Blues had one. Do you really think that the Bruins only did one thing that game that was penalty worthy?

What did you think of Marchand's low bridge on Tarasenko? Especially brutal since he didn't have the puck.

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

That trip was clearly a missed call.

There have been tons of them on both sides. The Bruins scored with too many men on the ice in game 1, the short handed goal in game 4 was off-sides... Those are two that resulted in scoring. I will leave the off-sides in game 3 as a 50/50 call that really cost the Blues 2 goals in the end.

Chara slashed and broke Bozaks stick on a good scoring chance, no call. Schenn plays the puck and a Bruins player stick breaks, Schenn goes in the box. I think that was game 1 and then game 2.

The bottom line is the officials that are in the Stanley Cup should be the best of the best, but they seem anything but. If anyone thinks this series is being called in favor of the Blues though, well I am not sure there is help for that.

And I wouldn't say Berube complained about the officials. He made a vanilla, factual statement. Maybe the NHL told the refs to let them (both teams) play a bit more, but the NHL did not say "don't whistle the Blues". Cassidy was just crying like a little bitch last night.

---

Brian

The B's have (currently) two chippy/pest types: Chara and Marchand. They pull lots of the borderline/suspect stuff that other fans hate, that is bordering on a penalty all the time, they'll be called once in a while but more often than not the refs bury their whistles so what those types of players do usually goes uncalled, and it drives people nuts. I get it. The problem is the refs are incredibly inconsistent and it's because of 'playoff hockey' officiating: no one knows what the hell is and isn't a penalty, it depnds on the ref, the situation, how many other calls have been made that game, the score...sometimes totally arbitrary.

The big issue the NHL has is some of their calls/non-calls this playoffs that were egregious led to huge game-changing goals. Another one went against Boston in the Columbus series, the puck hitting the netting and leading to a goal. The hand pass for the Sharks. The awful major penalty off the faceoff that led to a huge comeback.

These are clearcut, universally-accepted calls that have been handled wrong on the ice and they've led directly to game-changing goals. All the other chippy shit is just playoff hockey and inconsistent application of the rules. The B's have some players who play in the grey area so they've benefited from non-calls. So do the Blues. Hell so do the Leafs, don't pretend they don't. This isn't about general playoff chippiness and inconsistent penalties. This is about a clear-cut non-call leading directly to a game-changing goal.

Re: the low bridge, I already said it should've been a penalty. They also let the headshots to Johanssen and Krug go, do those not wash? I'd add the holding on Krug that very easily could've led to a goal but that, to me, is just playoff shenanigans that goes uncalled all the time, it is what it is. You seem to think the B's are the only team pulling these stunts and complaining when it goes against them. I didn't even bring up those headshots and holding because it happens, it is what it is. What is unacceptable is a non-borderline, clear-cut penalty that everyone knows is a penalty, which leads to a game-changing goal.

Yes, but this is what happens when you "let them play". I hate that mentality. Call the calls. If there's 15 power plays in a game? So be it. The players will adjust and do less stupid shit.

The Bozak one last night was a "let them play" non-call. The ref saw it. The league even called it a judgement call.

How the fuck is a blatant trip a judgement call? "Let them play" that's how. This one just happened to lead to a goal.

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Good insight this morning from retired NHL referee Paul Stewart: https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=99851

Both he and fellow retired ref Kerry Fraser have been critical of how the league has handled the officiating issues that have happened throughout the post-season across practically every team/series. With the game becoming ever faster and the available technology improving, it makes more sense to have a third official off-ice who can weigh in on this stuff. They currently have the offside challenge where someone's skate blade can be mere fractions of an inch on the line as a team gains the zone and scores 45 seconds later be a reviewable/reversible call, but should also have a process in place to address the other issues that have occurred throughout this post-season.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I totally agree, my arguments were more in response to BLeP laughing at B's fans being angry at the non-call on Accairi. Of course we're gonna be pissed, just like Blues fans were pissed with the terrible off-sides missed call and the missed slashing call on Chara. Just like B's fans were pissed at the Tarasenko dive that led to a penalty. Fans being pissed about BS calls isn't the fans fault, it's the leagues fault for not having better officiating in the most important games of the year.