The Latest on Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (all times local):
8:05 p.m.
The Boston Bruins are in command after the first period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final in St. Louis.
Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle and Sean Kuraly scored to give Boston a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. It is the first Cup final game in St. Louis since 1970 and the crowd was raucous from the beginning.
The Bruins withstood an early surge by the home team and ended up scoring three times on four shots against goalie Jordan Binnington. After being outshot 5-0 in the first six minutes, Boston outshot St. Louis 12-3 the rest of the way.
Bergeron scored on a power play and Coyle stayed hot with his eighth goal of the playoffs when he scored on a 2-on-1 with Marcus Johansson with 2:20 left in the first. Kuraly scored his second of the series with 7.8 just seconds left.
Blues coach Craig Berube unsuccessfully challenged that goal for offside and the Blues were forced into another penalty kill.
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7:50 p.m.
Patrice Bergeron has given Boston an early 1-0 lead in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against St. Louis.
Bergeron deflected Torey Krug’s point shot in 21 seconds into the power play and just over 10 minutes into the first period. Boston’s power play is now 3 for 11 in the series.
It is the first Cup final game in St. Louis since 1970. The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1.
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7:26 p.m.
The first Stanley Cup Final game in St. Louis since 1970 is underway.
Jaden Schwartz stared straight ahead and Brayden Schenn looked around at the crowd during pregame introductions. National anthem singer Charles Glenn, who’s battling multiple sclerosis, let the crowd singe a verse of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” And young Laila Anderson who’s fighting a rare immune disorder, took the microphone and addressed the packed arena.
Then the puck was dropped on Game 3 between the Boston Bruins and Blues. The series is tied 1-1.
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7 p.m.
St. Louis native and Blues super fan Jon Hamm is fired up about their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The actor of “Mad Men” fame clapped his way into the room when he talked to reporters before the first Cup Final game in the city in 49 years. He was part comedian, part historian, part St. Louisan but mostly just a fan.
He said: “I really do think —who cares what I think— I’m honestly like an actor that is just a fan of the team. You can pull anybody off the concourse and they’ll say the same thing. But I think that people are really in a different way this year believers.”
The Blues and Boston are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven final. Hamm wasn’t born yet when the Blues went to the Cup Final in 1968, ’69 and ’70 so he said he has no idea what this means to him.
Recalling his experience being in the stadium for the St. Louis Cardinals’ 1982 World Series win, Hamm said, “If this happens, it’s going to be that times infinity.”
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2:20 p.m.
Zach Sanford grew up a Boston Bruins fan. Tonight he’ll play against them in the Stanley Cup Final.
The native of Salem, Massachusetts, will suit up for the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 in place of suspended forward Oskar Sunqvist. It’s his first playoff action since April 14 against Winnipeg.
Sanford says there are “a lot of players that have never got this chance and there’s people who never even made it this far.”
He adds it’s an “awesome” opportunity to try to “help the team get a win.”
He’s over his Bruins fandom, but that hasn’t stopped some buddies back home from texting they’re rooting for the Bruins more than him.
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2 p.m.
Zach Sanford is expected to see his first action in more than six weeks when the St. Louis Blues host the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Sanford enters the Blues lineup for forward Oskar Sundqvist, who was suspended one game for boarding and concussing Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and potentially knocking him out for the rest of the series. Sanford hasn’t played since Game 3 of the first round against Winnipeg on April 14.
Jordan Nolan, who hasn’t played an NHL game since January, says he’ll skate in warmups but doesn’t expect to play. After Robby Fabbri replaced injured forward Robert Thomas in Game 2, the Blues’ depth has been tested.
John Moore will replace Grzelcyk in Boston’s lineup, and center Patrice Bergeron will play after skipping practice Friday for maintenance. The same goes for St. Louis top-line wingers Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.
The series is tied at 1-1.
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