The Bruins lost for a plethora of reasons. For a majority of the game, they had serious troubles in their own zone, issues breaking the puck out and passed up shots.
But the referees were the deciding factor in the Blues' 2-1 win in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Their missed call led to the Blues scoring the eventual game-winner off the stick of David Perron.
After being outshot 17-8 in the first period, the Blues were the ones to open the scoring in the second period when Ryan O'Reilly received a pass from Zach Sanford to make it 1-0.
Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy's miscommunication on who should cover the front of the net led to O'Reilly being as open as he was.
The second period begins with some great chances from the Blues, and then Zach Sanford and Ryan O'Reilly connected for this beauty. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/dX5i9ebO65
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues)
June 7, 2019 The Bruins' came close to scoring their first of the night at the 13:00 minute mark of the third period when they reviewed whether or not David Pastrnak's shot crossed the goal line. After a lengthy review, the NHL ruled it did not.
The officiating didn't impact the scoreboard until Perron made it 2-0 after Noel Acciari was blatantly tripped right in front of the referee.
I've lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money... or ratings I'm not sure which I won't be silent. just saw it live sorry #NHLBruins- 0#STLblues- 2 pic.twitter.com/595MsP78GO
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS)
June 7, 2019 The TD Garden faithful weren't pleased, as they littered the ice with towels and water bottles.
As the crowd became more and more agitated, Jake DeBrusk brought them back in when he ripped one past Binnington to make it 2-1. It came as the Blues were being called for a high stick on Torey Krug.
Jake DeBrusk makes it a 2-1 game. pic.twitter.com/sRWpN9Odxm
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93)
June 7, 2019 The officiating wasn't just bad on the Perron goal; it was bad throughout the entire game. The referees missed many hits to the head, such as this one on Torey Krug courtesy of Sanford.
Sanford just took Krug’s head off his shoulders. No penalty on the play. pic.twitter.com/PObiwATVE7
— Brandon Share-Cohen (@BShareCohen)
June 7, 2019 And then this one on Marcus Johansson.
Wow St. Louis really loves hitting players high #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/j2uoSHVIUW
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS)
June 7, 2019 The Blues almost made it 2-0 with mere seconds to play in the second period when Alex Pietrangelo had Rask down and out. It looked as if the puck was surely going into the net. That was until David Krejci came out of nowhere to channel his inner Michael Ryder and make a spectacular save. However the only reason Krejci even had to make that save was because Oskar Sundqvist held Torey Krug.
Yet another example of bad officiating.
Great save by Krejci, but also Y-I-K-E-S that hold on Krug. pic.twitter.com/pUH5VYi9yi
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93)
June 7, 2019 Despite the terrible officiating, Binnington played out of his mind, stopping 38 of 39 shots from the Bruins. To counter, Rask stopped 19 of 21.
Game 6 is Sunday in St. Louis. The Blues have a chance to win it all. Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m.
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