St. Louis Blues

The Boston Bruins scored four unanswered goals to erase a hot start by the St. Louis Blues in a 4-2 win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.

Here is a preview of the Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, including each team’s candidates for Conn Smythe, how they got to the Final and what they need to do to win the Cup.

The Boston Bruins swept out the Carolina Hurricanes in four games to reach their third Stanley Cup Final in the last nine seasons. The St. Louis Blues defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games, reaching the Final for the first time since 1970.

The Boston Bruins have vaulted to a 2-0 series lead with a pair of wins at home on the wildcard Carolina Hurricanes. The San Jose Sharks took the first game of the Western Conference Final, but the St. Louis Blues bounced back in Game 2 to even the series.

Four teams remain with a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final: the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks/Colorado Avalanche. How we got here in Around the NHL.

Last week, it was already known that the President’s Trophy winners, the Tampa Bay Lightning, were eliminated, as were the Pittsburgh Penguins. Six other teams have joined, and many of them were near the top of the regular-season standings.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that tied an NHL record with 62 wins in the regular season, were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games. The Pittsburgh Penguins, the Stanley Cup champions in 2016 and 2017, were also swept by the New York Islanders in four games.

In total, eight goals were scored in the first period between the two teams, including seven in the first 9:41 of the game, as the Flyers fell into a 5-2 deficit by the midpoint of the first period on the way to a 7-3 defeat to the Blues on Thursday night.

There are just two games left on the Flyers schedule, including one final game away from home which the Flyers will play on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.