BOSTON – The Bruins said they expected the St. Louis Blues to be their most physical opponent in the playoffs to date, and then they went out and played like it in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
It was punctuated by Torey Krug flying down the ice without a helmet hell-bent on revenge after getting his lid popped off his head by David Perron, and then obliterating rookie Robert Thomas with a punishing, clean hit that showed everything the Bruins want to show.
Krug had the presence of mind to not jump Perron from behind as he slowly retreated to the Blues bench — which undoubtedly would have earned him a penalty — and instead used his full-speed fury to attack Thomas as the two players battled for the puck. It wasn’t charging as he glided for the last 10-15 feet until impact, and it wasn’t launching as he didn’t leave his feet until after he steam-rolled Thomas.
It was goose bump-inducing as David Backes admitted to after the game.
“[The Krug hit] gave me some goose bumps. He’s battling in our zone. I don’t know what kind of twister game they were playing in front of our net,” said Backes. “But I was hoping we would change and he doesn’t have a helmet on. But he goes right up the ice and lays a big hit. He thinks he’s playing thirty, forty years ago. That was an exchange, I think, that was Torey Krug establishing himself in this series. That was from my perspective a big boost.”
Instead it was part of Boston’s plan to play a physical, unflinching brand of hockey against a big, strong and heavy Blues team, and Game 1 lived up to its advanced billing as two intensely physical hockey clubs were intent on slugging it out.
Give Round One to Krug and the Bruins with a 4-2 win over St. Louis at TD Garden where they outshot St. Louis 38-20 and left the ice with the game’s biggest, most breathtaking hit with Krug dropping Thomas in a stunning sequence.
But it didn’t end there either. There was Noel Acciari slamming Jaden Schwartz over the boards and dumping him into the Bruins bench, and then clobbering Alex Steen against the side boards after he’d thrown a hit on Charlie McAvoy in the corner. There was David Backes getting into it with St. Louis D-man Joel Edmundson after an early high-stick infraction where Edmundson cross-checked him in the back while he was down on the ice after getting his stick up in his face.
There was nastiness and competitiveness all over the ice, and it was highly entertaining to watch, as it should be for the entire best-of-seven series between a couple NHL heavyweights not looking to back down.
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“When everything is on the line like that, it’s going to come to the surface a lot quicker,” said Krug, of the temperature of the series getting hot quickly between a couple of teams that don’t see each other very often. “This isn’t a team we see too often, so the rivalry factor isn’t there. But I’m sure by the end of the series it will be something to talk about for a very long time.”
Even skill players like Marcus Johansson were fighting through bodies, winning their battles and playing with an intrepid, tough determination that might not always be there during the regular season.
“These guys in here -- they’ll do anything to win and it’s what is special about this group,” said Johansson. “This is going to be a war to the end. That’s what it is. It’s us or them. Everybody wants it so you need to go out and get it.”
The bottom line for the Bruins is that they were ready to play Stanley Cup Final-level hockey in Game 1 and they took it to a Blues team that was assumed to have a little bit of the size and strength advantage headed into the series. The B’s threw, and landed, the first haymaker punch on Monday night and it will be interesting to see how the Blues respond headed into Wednesday night’s Game 2 where we’ll learn just how long this series is going to be.
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