St. Louis Blues Lock Down Games to Win Stanley Cup

BOSTON (AP) — When Alex Pietrangelo lifted a backhander over Tuukka Rask to give the St. Louis Blues a two-goal lead late in the first period, Boston fans went silent and the eerie quiet lasted throughout intermission.

With good reason. The Blues hadn’t lost a single playoff game when up by at least two goals. This is the first Stanley Cup trophy for the The St. Louis franchise after winning game-7 and defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1.

The Bruins found out what San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets learned the hard way: Don’t let the St. Louis Blues take a lead.

Craig Berube’s team showed all playoffs it could lock down a hockey game better than anyone else in the NHL. Their style of game translates perfectly to playing with a lead, a recipe that helped them finish off Boston Wednesday night in Game 7 to lift the Stanley Cup.

After the regular season saw an NHL-record 138 multi-goal comebacks, the Blues went 4-0 in the Cup final when taking a lead of any kind on the Bruins and were undefeated whenever they had a two-goal or more advantage this postseason.

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