Torey Krug provides Game 1's iconic moment with helmet-less hit on Robert Thomas

Torey Krug has had big playoff moments before. Back in 2013, he got called up for the Bruins' second-round series against the Rangers due to injuries on the blue line and proceeded to score four goals in his first five postseason games, becoming the first rookie defenseman ever to do so.

Offensive contributions are the kinds of moments you expect from Krug. But in Game 1 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final Monday night, Krug earned himself a spot on Bruins highlight reels for years to come for something else: for racing all the way down the ice without a helmet and absolutely destroying Blues forward Robert Thomas with a hard, clean hit.

Torey Krug, sans helmet, steamrolls Robert Thomas pic.twitter.com/a7irGDSAS1

Big hits are always good for highlight reels anyway, but it's the no-helmet factor that raises this one to another level. That's why years from now, it will be the play people remember most from this game, even moreso than Sean Kuraly's go-ahead goal in the third period.

So let's start with how Krug ended up helmet-less in the first place. He found himself locked in an epic battle with David Perron in front of the Bruins net that escalated into a wrestling match and culminated in Perron ripping off Krug's helmet before skating away.

#MAY27 #STLvsBOS #GM1 3rd periodHere's the full sequence between Torey Krug & David Perron#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/42ccIaKpbA

The refs could've easily blown the whistle right there and called matching roughing penalties on Krug and Perron. They didn't, though, and so play continued at the other end of the ice.

Krug got up and instead of just heading to the bench and changing off -- which would've been understandable given A) he had lost his helmet, and B) most people would be pretty tired after that net-front battle -- he decided to stay on and race up the ice.

At first it looked like Krug was going after Perron, who was gliding to the St. Louis bench for a line change himself. But Perron wasn't in the play, and if Krug initially had revenge on his mind, he thought better of it. Krug zoomed right past him and into the offensive zone, where he arrived just in time to line up Thomas as the puck came to him up the boards.

Bang. Thomas goes down and the TD Garden crowd goes crazy.

And most importantly, no referee's arm goes up to call a penalty. There was some debate on Twitter and after the game about whether it was a charge, with The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun most notably thinking it was.

But that seems like a really tough argument to make. When you watch the full sequence leading up to the hit, it's clear that Krug starts gliding into the hit at the blue line. He had built up some speed before that, but he's no longer gaining speed as he goes into the hit.

There's no jumping into the hit either. His shoulder remains tucked the whole time. There's no contact to the head. It's not interference because Thomas had just touched the puck.

It was just a hard, clean hit.

and the subsequent follow up of the Krug charge/non charge hit pic.twitter.com/w1k6WPwGRy

The time of the game the hit occurred or the impact it had on the game won't even matter in the coming days, weeks, months and years as we watch it over and over again. For the record, it came with about 10:20 left in the third period. The Bruins had already taken a 3-2 lead and had been controlling play since early in the second period.

In that sense, it would be a stretch to call Krug's hit a turning point. It certainly raised the energy level in the building even more and clearly got the Bruins bench pumped up, as evidenced by them banging their sticks on the boards as Krug skated back. But it's not like the Bruins needed some sort of wakeup call.

Memorable moments don't always need to be turning points, though. They just need to be, well... memorable. And this hit certainly was.

As far as how Krug himself will remember it, he was focused on what really matters.

"I'm just glad I got a haircut a few days ago."

"I'm just glad I got a haircut a few days ago." -- @ToreyKrug on his big hit sans helmet pic.twitter.com/ez5q60I5uy

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