Blues Pick Up Their 1st Ever Win In the Stanley Cup Final, 3-2 in OT to Even the Series At 1 vs. B's

It only took two games in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final to conclude that the Blues are not the Hurricanes. There will be no sweep for the Bruins as St. Louis outplayed them for most of Game 2 and deserved the 3-2 overtime decision that came via the first career NHL playoff goal for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. For the contest, the Blues outshot the Bruins 37-23 which included a 4-0 advantage in the brief extra session that basically felt like a St. Louis power play the entire time (the Blues had an extra skater on the ice during the game-winning goal since it was a delayed penalty on the Bruins).

The series shifts back to St. Louis for Game 3 on Saturday night (8, NBCSN) and Game 4 on Monday (8, NBC). This result also means that there will be at least one more game at TD Garden this season-Game 5 next Thursday (8, NBC). I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV but I'm guessing that Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will miss some time after he left late in the first period after a nasty hit by Oskar Sundqvist that sent his head crashing into the boards. The Charlestown native went to the hospital and there was no update on his condition immediately following the tilt at Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy's press conference.

As you would expect with so many big bodies and rugged players, the Blues turned up the physicality from Game 1 as they outhit the Bruins 50-31 (a lopsided margin that rarely happens to the B's on their home ice). In addition to that, they were called for two goaltender interference penalties on rookie Sammy Blais and Jaden Schwartz. They were clearly making a concerted effort to be rough with Tuukka Rask (34 saves). Boston's power-play was 1-for-5 just like they were in Game 1 but that is a bit misleading since they clicked on their first one for a goal by Charlie Coyle then went 0-for-4 the rest of the way including a late third period slash on Brayden Schenn.

It was a weird one since Boston led two different times and all four goals before overtime came in the first period. Jordan Binnington (21 saves) had a shaky start as Coyle's power play strike was one that he'd definitely like to have back. Coyle one-timed a pass from Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak for his seventh goal of the postseason. Binnington was too far over to one side to recover enough to stop the average shot that went through his five-hole. The Blues answered back pretty quickly though as defenseman Robert Bortuzzo's shot sneaked by Rask from a tight angle; in real time, I thought that Pat Maroon had tipped it but either it went off of Grzelcyk or I'm simply seeing things in my old age. Tyler Bozak and Gunnarsson had the assists on Bortuzzo's second goal of the postseason at 9:37.

Before that goal was even announced on the PA system, the B's were up 2-1 40 seconds later as Joakim Nordstrom deposited a backhander through Binnington's five-hole. Sean Kuraly caused the turnover and had the lone assist (also a backhander) on Nordy's third goal of the playoffs. Vladimir Tarasenko tied it up at two at 14:55 after he went in a 2-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz. Rask made a couple saves before that but he couldn't stop the Russian's backhander which extended his point-streak to eight games (5 goals, 5 assists). Schwartz (12 goals, 4 assists in his last 17 games) had the lone assist on Tarasenko's 10th goal of the postseason.

St. Louis dominated the second period, outshooting Boston 14-6 but they couldn't grab a lead. Connor Clifton had a rough 20 minutes with a pair of penalties including a double-minor for high-sticking (Schwartz's penalty negated the second half of that). Really the only highlight of the second for the Bruins was an incredible shift by Nordstrom (game-high 5 blocked shots) who got in front of not one but two absolute rockets by Blues hulking defenseman Colton Parayko. That sequence was unforgettable (and luckily Nordstrom didn't suffer a serious enough injury to miss time) as Nordy made one block, hobbled around for awhile as St. Louis kept the puck in the offensive zone and then was able to block another before later Rask tied up the puck to mercifully let his banged up teammate get off the ice.

Boston seemed to find much more of a groove in the third period as the shots were even at nine and both goaltenders made Grade-A stops. The Bruins' top line has not been themselves in these first two games vs. St. Louis (so much so that they were temporarily broken up tonight) but Patrice Bergeron nearly put the B's ahead after a nifty feed by Backes from behind the net. Gunnarsson rang the post-foreshadowing his game-winner-before David Pastrnak was stopped after a faceoff win by Krejci. Still, for most of the third, you could sense that it would take overtime to decide this.

It was the first time since 2016 that a Stanley Cup Final game ended in OT and as is often the case, it did not take very long to end it. I'm pretty sure the puck was in Boston's defensive zone the whole time before Gunnarsson's hard shot through traffic beat Rask. Ryan O'Reilly (who was 11-6 on faceoffs) and Sundqvist (who should be hearing from the NHL Department of Player Safety about that Grzelcyk hit) had the assists on what is undoubtedly the biggest goal in Gunnarsson's life and also one of the most important in Blues history. Playing for over two full periods with only five defensemen for sure caught up to the Bruins but that doesn't hide the fact that they were outplayed basically all game long in every conceivable fashion.

The Blues are here for a reason and anyone who thought that this would be a one-sided series, especially after the relative ease of Game 1's victory, needed this reality check. St. Louis improved to an NHL-best 8-3 on the road this postseason but keep in mind that means that they are only 5-5 at Enterprise Center. Boston was tied 1-1 after two games in the first round vs. Toronto and the same deal in the following round vs. Columbus. Forget Carolina, that team did not belong in the Eastern Conference Final with the Bruins and they were overmatched the whole time.

You could argue that Boston's fourth line has been better than the first and it's not really a stretch to say the same thing about the third line vs. the second. I still believe that the B's are the better team and in this series that should be proven when their depth ultimately is too much for the Blues to handle. I don't worry about such a veteran team getting down about Game 2, they get an extra travel day off so I have no doubt that they will bounce back and play way better on Saturday (like St. Louis did this evening). It's the Stanley Cup Final, you should want a quality series and not a forgettable walkover.

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The Bruins Rallied For A Thrilling 4-2 Victory In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Blues

For two teams (Boston and St. Louis) that had been off for roughly a combined three months since their last contests in the Conference Finals, you have to say that Game 1 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final was way more exciting than most would have expected. The Blues built a 2-0 lead a minute into the second period before the Bruins came roaring back (sorry for that bad pun) with a pair of goals in the second and two more in the third to come away with a 4-2 win at TD Garden on a picture perfect Memorial Day. It marked the first time this postseason that Boston actually won a game after they trailed by two goals, the other four times had all resulted in losses.

If you've been paying attention for this entire playoff run by the B's, there were some familiar patterns throughout the 60 minutes that emerged for the home team: the incredible depth of Boston's roster was once again on full display as their first the three stars of the night (as chosen by the NHL's official scorers) were a fourth-line center (Sean Kuraly), a third-line winger (Marcus Johansson) and a third pairing defenseman (Connor Clifton). Also, the Bruins' top-ranked power play managed to score a goal despite starting 0-for-3 and their penalty kill was a perfect 2-for-2. Tuukka Rask barely had to break a sweat after that second goal by St. Louis as he only was forced to make 18 saves for his and the team's eighth straight win.

I don't think it has all that much relevance since we're talking about nearly 50 years ago but I still think it's funny that with tonight's result, the Blues remain winless all-time in the Stanley Cup Final (0-13). I'm certainly not enough of a Bruins honk to say that this series is over (all you have to refer to is last season's Stanley Cup Final when Vegas took Game 1 then proceeded to lose the next four to Washington) but there were a lot of reasons if you root for the Black and Gold to be confident following this first step.

Honestly, both goals for St. Louis could be directly attributed to fatal mistakes by Boston: Brayden Schenn scored the first goal of the series at 7:23 of the first period when he was able to put in a loose puck that multiple Bruins failed to clear out of danger after an initial save by Rask. Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester had the assists on Schenn's third goal of the postseason. The shots were even at eight after one frame but it felt like the Bruins should have been up since Jordan Binnington (34 saves) made a couple great saves on one-timers by David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk missed the net on a breakaway and Johansson hit the post with a shot. An unforgivable turnover by Pasta behind his own net was the beginning of the goal that made it 2-0 thanks to Vladimir Tarasenko's snipe (his 9th of the playoffs) from Schenn.

Down 2-0, the Bruins didn't allow themselves or their fans (many of whom had paid obscene amounts of money to be in the building) much time to dwell on the hole that they built as Connor Clifton of all people cut it to 2-1 just 1:16 after Tarasenko's backbreaking goal. The Quinnipiac University product drove to the side of the net and was able to re-direct enough of a pass from Kuraly for the puck to sneak in. Joakim Nordstrom had the second assist on Clifton's second career playoff goal. St. Louis then started to take some very dumb penalties (high-sticking on Joel Edmundson and cross-checking on Oscar Sundqvist) and wouldn't you know it, Boston eventually made them pay dearly for their utter stupidity.

Charlie McAvoy burst through the middle of the St. Louis defensive zone and a pair of Blues defensemen were too slow to react as he beat Binnington with a low shot at 12:41 of the second period that tied it up 2-2. The ex-BU star's second goal of the postseason was unassisted. That extended Boston's power play goal streak to five games and in that span they are 8-for-20 (40%). The Bruins outshot the Blues 18-3 in the second and yet it somehow felt like even more than that. Marchand had two great chances to score late in the stanza as he spun around for a brilliant backhander that was stopped by Binnington and then in the closing seconds, he also hit the post.

Boston kept at it in the third period and they were rewarded by another key goal from Kuraly (all he does is score important goals) that gave them their first lead at 3-2. Noel Acciari fed him a pass across the goal-line and he was able to flip in the rebound for his third goal of the postseason at 5:21 with Zdeno Chara picking up the second assist. The Blues came in with the ninth ranked power play in the playoffs and they looked average in their few chances (including in the 3rd when David Krejci was called for an illegal check to the head). The highlight of Game 1 that will surely be remembered for a long time (assuming that you cheer for the Bruins) was a thunderous hit by Torey Krug on Robert Thomas. Krug had been tangled up for what seemed like five minutes in his own end with David Perron (causing him to lose his helmet) but he returned to the play and lined up Thomas from a mile away.

Blues head coach Craig Berube probably pulled Binnington too early (with 2:13 left in regultion) which allowed Marchand to quickly take out the suspense with an empty-netter at 18:11, his eighth goal of the postseason. Game 2 is Wednesday (8, NBC) and while I expect St. Louis to play much better, I believe that Boston can take it up another level too (at least as far as many of their stars are concerned). For what it's worth, the Bruins are 37-16 all-time in best-of-7 series when they lead a series 1-0 (5-1 in the Stanley Cup Final) while the Blues are 6-24 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 0-1 (although they did beat San Jose in the last round after dropping Game 1). The B's are 32-20 in Game 2s when leading a series 1-0 (4-2 in SCF) and the Blues are 14-16 when trailing a series 0-1. As we just saw vs. overmatched Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals, a 2-0 series lead is a huge thing so Boston would love nothing better to put some more pressure on St. Louis by going back to what would be an absolute must-win Game 3 if they trailed 0-2.

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B's Are At Another Level Than The Canes Right Now As They Grab A 2-0 Series Lead With 6-2 Win

Look, no team ever wins eight games in the Stanley Cup playoffs by accident or as a complete fluke. With that said, through two games in the Eastern Conference Final, Carolina has appeared completely overmatched in nearly every possible way as Boston blasted them 6-2 this afternoon at TD Garden on Mother's Day. The win gives the Bruins a 2-0 series lead-for the first time this postseason-as they have won five straight playoff games for the first time in six years (the last time they reached the Stanley Cup Finals).

I won't take full credit for this theory/future hot take until it actually happens but it isn't far-fetched to say that Toronto will be the best team that Boston plays in the Eastern Conference this postseason. How bizarre that it took the Bruins seven games to outlast the Leafs then they slowly improved and managed to take out the Blue Jackets in six games and what if they eliminate the Hurricanes in five games or heaven forbid a sweep? These are the type of thoughts that cross your mind when you watch the Black and Gold score 10 straight goals (going back to Game 1) and build a ridiculous 6-0 lead before the Hurricanes mercifully scored a pair of garbage time goals.

They are still six games away from a Stanley Cup but Boston has already tied an impressive mark: 19 different Bruins have scored goals (in only 15 games!) this postseason which both leads all playoff teams and also ties a franchise record from way back in 1988. Think of Game 2 as a systematic beatdown by the B's since they notched a pair of tallies in each frame and saw their top-ranked play go a perfect 2-for-2 while holding Carolina's pathetic power play (#14 in the playoffs) to 0-for-4. Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek seems noticeably rattled (take a number on that team) as he has already allowed 10 goals in this series. I have no idea why the Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour left him in for the entirety of Game 2, wouldn't you want to see if backup goalie Curtis McElhinney (who won Games 3 & 4 against the Islanders when Mrazek was hurt) could give you a spark?

You could sense that it might be a long day for the Canes right off the bat as the first goal scored by the B's was a soft one: Matt Grzelcyk's shot from the slot somehow sneaked through Mrazek's pads for a 1-0 advantage at 15:22 of the first period. Marcus Johansson and Charlie Coyle had the assists on Grzelcyk's second goal of the playoffs. The next goal was on Carolina's slow to react defense as Jake DeBrusk scored Boston's first power play goal of the contest by outhustling his opponents. Mrazek stopped his first shot but DeBrusk stayed with it and boxed out the highly touted (at least offensively) Jaccob Slavin. David Pastrnak and Torey Krug had the assists on DeBrusk's third goal of the postsesason at 18:32.

Things only got worse for Carolina in the second period as Quinnipiac's Connor Clifton bagged his first NHL goal (regular season or playoffs) at 3:46. Johansson had all day to make a decision with the puck and he caught a break as his intended pass to Clifton bounced off a Hurricane skate which allowed Clifton to shovel the puck into the net with Mrazek out of position. Danton Heinen had the other helper on Clifton's memorable tally (in terms of his young career). Grzelcyk showed off his stickhandling skills on the way to his first career two-goal performance by finishing a backhander from his BU homie Charlie Coyle and Krug at 17:56.

It was a laugher before Boston scored its two final goals early in the third period: David Backes poked in a loose puck at 1:10 (his 2nd goal of the postseason was assisted by David Krejci and Krug) then Danton Heinen beat Mrazek with a backhander (his 2nd goal of the playoffs) of his own at 4:32 after a sweet feed from Patrice Bergeron and Coyle. If you care (which you probably don't), Carolina's goals were a tip-in by Justin Williams and basically an empty-netter by Teuvo Teravainen following a brutal turnover by Tuukka Rask (21 saves).

Former Bruin Dougie Hamilton continues to look overmatched to a crazy degree and the fans in the Garden are more than happy to let him know about it with some "Dougie, Dougie" chants whenever they get a chance. This is where I'm supposed to caution everybody that Carolina trailed Washington 0-2 in the first round of this postseason before winning Game 3 and eventually the series in seven games. With that said, Game 3 on Tuesday (8, NBCSN) in Raleigh is a must-win for the Canes or else they are done.

As you can imagine, the numbers are on Boston's side in this situation as well: they are 20-11 all-time in Game 3s when leading a series 2-0 while the Hurricanes are 3-4 in Game 3s when trailing a series 0-2; furthermore, Boston is 24-7 all-time in best-of-7 series when they lead 2-0 and Carolina is 2-5 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 0-2. Even if those mean nothing to you, just watch the games (or the highlights) and objectively tell me who looks like the more confident team that is firing on all cylinders and which one looks like they have run out of gas? I rest my case.

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Boston Scores Four Unanswered Goals In The Third To Take Game 1 of ECF, 5-2 vs. Carolina

There are only four teams left in the NHL playoffs and like it or not, your Bruins are unquestionably the team to beat (sorry Sharks) for the Stanley Cup. Boston began the Eastern Conference Final tonight at TD Garden with a spirited 5-2 victory against the upstart Hurricanes who truth be told nobody thought would be here entering the postseason. It wasn't nearly as easy for the B's as the final score would indicate, they actually trailed 2-1 entering the third period which made them reverse their 0-3 record when trailing heading into the third in the playoffs while the Canes were 3-0 when leading after two.

Emerging star defenseman Charlie McAvoy was suspended for Game 1 due to his hit on Columbus' Josh Anderson in Game 6 of that series so Steven Kampfer came into the lineup after only playing one game this entire postseason (Game 3 vs. Toronto). That also meant that rookie Connor Clifton slid up to the top defensive pairing with Zdeno Chara. Hockey has a funny way of finding unlikely heroes and wouldn't you know that Kampfer potted the first goal of the contest at 2:55 of the first period. Marcus Johansson started the play by taking the puck from Justin Faulk in Boston's defensive zone then holding onto it for a second in Carolina's defensive zone before he slid a backhand pass to Kampfer. The journeyman defenseman beat Petr Mrazek (23 saves) with a low and hard shot for his second career playoff goal.

Carolina had swept the Islanders in the second round so they had a few extra days off but that didn't appear to make them rusty. Sebastian Aho tied it just 47 seconds later after he tipped in a pass from rookie Andrei Svechnikov (aka the poor guy that Ovi knocked out in the 1st round) for his fifth goal of the playoffs. Jordan Staal had the second assist on Aho's ninth career goal in 10 games against the Bruins. The Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 10-8 in the first but the underdogs from the Dirty South began to dominate in the second. Their lone lead of Game 1 came on a tight call: fourth line center Greg McKegg (haha great name, he must love the suds) drove the net like you read about and ran into Tuukka Rask (29 saves) which caused the net to come off its moorings. The good news for Carolina and its five fans that were at the Garden, the puck actually crossed the goal line before McKegg made contact with Rask. McKegg's second goal of the playoffs was assisted by Jordan Martinook and Michael Ferland, his fellow fourth-liners.

Dressing room speeches between periods are overrated but whatever was said by Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and his players before the third period couldn't have been more effective. Boston's top-ranked power play flexed its muscles with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart early in the frame: Marcus Johansson cleaned up a loose puck at 2:26 then Patrice Bergeron finished a pretty passing sequence from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. Johansson's third goal of the postseason was assisted by Marchand and David Krejci while Bergeron's goal was his sixth (tying David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle for the team lead). Goals in spurts was a theme all night as Boston shut the door on Carolina with an empty-netter then breakaway 11 seconds after that. Coyle was credited with the empty-netter at 17:47 after Brandon Carlo's clearing attempt deflected in off his body then Chris Wagner picked up his first playoff goal and point as a Bruin with a sweet move on Mrazek.

Boston improved to 53-49 all-time in Game 1s of best-of-seven series while Carolina dropped to 10-13 all-time in Game 1s. The Bruins' win streak was extended to four games while they simultaneously ended the Hurricanes' win streak at six games. Here's a crazy stat: the Canes allowed as many goals tonight as they gave up in all four games combined vs. the Islanders. Looking forward to Game 2 on Sunday afternoon (3, NBC), the Bruins are 32-19 in Game 2s when they lead a series 1-0 while the Hurricanes are 5-6 in Game 2s when trailing a series 0-1. Finally, Boston is 36-16 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead a series 1-0 and Carolina is 5-6 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 0-1. It's all about momentum in the playoffs and the B's split the first two home games vs. Toronto and then Columbus so going up 2-0 on Carolina would be a dream that would put a smile on your mom's face (don't forget that Sunday is Mother's Day you dopes!).

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The Bruins Push The Blue Jackets To The Brink Of Elimination With An Insane 4-3 Victory In Game 5

You could watch a lifetime of hockey and you might never see a more crazy third period in a playoff game than the one that took place tonight at TD Garden. Heading into the frame up 1-0, the Bruins later led 2-0 and 3-1 before the Blue Jackets scored twice to tie it up, setting the stage for David Pastrnak's incredibly clutch tally with 1:28 left in regulation. From there, Boston held on for the extremely important 4-3 win in Game 5 that gives them a 3-2 series advantage. Game 6 is at Nationwide Arena on Monday (7, NBC Sports) as the B's will get a chance to knock out the Jackets once and for all.

Believe it or not (given the final score), the story for much of this contest was the continued dominance of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (33 saves). After playing one of the best games of his NHL playoff career on Thursday (a 4-1 victory at Columbus), he appeared poised to somehow top that with a shutout. In the span of 3:35, Columbus managed to score three goals to erase that two-goal deficit. In the long, storied history of the Black and Gold, this was only the second time ever that they had blown a multi-goal third period lead then recovered to still win it in regulation (1989, division semifinal at Buffalo).

Boston's first forward line (Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) had been the best in the NHL not only this season but the last few which made their struggles earlier in the series vs. Columbus so puzzling. Were Pastrnak and Bergeron hurt or just in a major offensive drought at the worst possible time? They have certainly answered their critics with the back-to-back crucial wins that they starred in. Marchand (goal, 2 assists) and Pastrnak (2 goals) each had their best games of the postseason and Rask once again outplayed Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (32 saves) who is still making some of the best stops that you'll ever see.

Interestingly enough with the top two power plays left in the postseason (Columbus is #1 & Boston is #2), all seven of the goals came via 5-on-5 action. After a scoreless first period, David Krejci opened the scoring at 1:39 of the second. Who cares if he almost whiffed on the shot which actually helped it fool Bobrovsky? Jake DeBrusk and David Backes had the assists on Krejci's third goal of the playoffs (his 35th career playoff goal that moved him into 7th place on the club's all-time list). Boston doubled its lead at 4:51 of the third period on a Marchand goal and at that point with the way that Rask was completely shutting down the Jackets, you thought that would be more than enough. Bobrovsky robbed Marchand with a spectacular glove save but Brad stuck with it and beat the brilliant goalie with a snipe in basically the same spot. His fifth goal of the postseason was assisted by Quinnipiac's Connor Clifton (his 1st career playoff point!) and Bergeron.

Columbus' ill-fated comeback attempt fittingly started with another shady goal (at least it wasn't the boneheaded no call from Game 4 when the puck clearly went into the netting over the rink before the Blue Jackets scored on the same play). Seth Jones' shot deflected off Matt Grzelcyk's stick and Rask was hugging the near post but he wasn't able to keep it out of the net, apparently. It was called no goal on the ice then after a very lengthy review (and to the dismay of the Garden crowd), it was overturned for Jones' third goal of the playoffs. Zach Werenski and BC's Cam Atkinson had the assists on the goal by Jones who once again nearly played half of the game (he skated a game-high 29:49). 43 seconds later, Pasta ripped a laser by Bobrovsky who barely moved. Marchand had the lone assist but Pasta did most of the work on their 2-on-1; his fifth goal of the postseason was an understandably emotional moment for him after he'd been bashed for the last few weeks by local media and fans alike.

It's a real credit to the Blue Jackets that they still wouldn't die after that (when most other clubs would have) as Ryan Dzingel cut it to 3-2 with a top-shelf shot 51 seconds later. Matt Duchene and David Savard had the helpers on Dzingel's first point of the postseason. Even more unlikely than that, something named Dean Kukan (haha who the hell is that?) tied it up at 13:58 with a blast that went off of Brandon Carlo's skate. It was the first goal-regular season or playoffs-of Kukan's NHL career. Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson notched the assists on Kukan's tying goal which proved as always that if you give almost any NHL player that much time and space, they can hurt you in a major way. Assuming that you weren't dead already, the B's saved us further heart problems (for now!) since they bypassed (get it?) overtime for the excruciating third straight contest at home.

The Bruins left it to be decided late but doesn't the additional drama make it that much sweeter? Carlo started the winning sequence by stripping the puck from Panarin then Marchand threw it towards the Columbus net where Pastrnak was situated and he re-directed it enough to elude Bobrovsky to the far side. Needless to say, I think that Pasta's first career game-winning goal in the playoffs will be one that he'll never forget.

Boston now has a little bit of a cushion (2 chances to get 1 win) as they enter Game 6. Keep in mind that Carolina is relaxing and waiting for the winner of this series in the Eastern Conference Finals after they finished their sweep of the Islanders last night. Unlike the Leafs series, the Bruins have learned to give themselves some breathing room but make no mistake, they need to do everything in their power to eliminate Columbus as soon as possible. You don't want to see them and especially Bobrovsky in a Game 7 situation.

Some numbers to keep in mind for Monday: the Bruins are 10-16 all-time in Game 6s when they lead a best-of-seven series 3-2 while the Blue Jackets are 0-2 in Game 6s when they trailing a series 2-3. Also, Boston is 21-5 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead in a series 3-2 and Columbus is 0-2 when they trail in a series 2-3. The B's have won their last two games and what better time to make it three in a row and reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2013 (vs. Tampa Bay) than Monday in Columbus?

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