Talking Points from the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Blues in Game 1

GOLD STAR: Sean Kuraly ended up with a goal and two points and had two of the biggest plays of the game when he set up Boston’s first goal to stop the bleeding, and then scored the game-winner in the third period after Noel Acciari and Kuraly overpowered the Blues defense at the net. Both players and Joakim Nordstrom had a strong night against the Blues with the physical play, and with locking down the St. Louis top line after getting switched over to them as a defensive assignment midway through the game. Kuraly finished with a goal, two points and a plus-2 in 14:51 of ice time along with three shots on net, two hits, a blocked shot and 4-of-7 face-off wins to go along with one grand goal celebration after the game-winner.

BLACK EYE: David Perron tried to play the physical game and be a little pesky with the Bruins, but instead finished with a minus-1 rating, zero shots on net, a penalty and three giveaways in a “meh” performance for the only Blues player with Stanley Cup Final experience. Perron was the player who sat on top of Torey Krug behind the play at the Boston end of the ice, and then ripped his helmet off while refusing to get off the B’s defenseman. So Krug decided to speed down the other end of the ice and obliterate Robert Thomas with a hit as an answer once Perron retreated to the Blues bench. In a sense Perron poked the bear and ended up paying the price while trying to be a hard-to-play-against guy in Game 1.

WATCH: Krug levels Robert Thomas with massive hit

TURNING POINT: The Bruins allowed the second goal of the game in the opening minutes of the second period, and it appeared that the B’s might be in a little bit of trouble after they were rusty to start things off. Instead that turned things around for the Black and Gold with Sean Kuraly feeding Connor Clifton for Boston’s first goal of the Final, and that sparked Boston to a dominant final 40 minutes of the game. The Bruins outshot the Blues 29-12 over those final two periods and tied the game in the second period before Sean Kuraly’s game-winner in the third. But it might not have happened had the B’s not answered with their own goal just 1:16 after the Blues made it a 2-0 game in the second period.

HONORABLE MENTION: Marcus Johansson didn’t figure into the scoring, but he was a force for the Bruins throughout the game. He was the best player on the ice for the Black and Gold in the first period when he dangled through the Blues defense before wringing one off the post, and MoJo finished with five shot attempts to go along with a couple of takeaways and a blocked shot in 16:47 of ice time for the Swedish winger. He didn’t figure in the offense this time around for the Bruins, but if he plays with that kind of competitiveness for the rest of the series then he’s going to do just fine in that category. It’s players like Johansson who have turned the B’s into a team you simply can’t match up with when it comes to their depth.

BY THE NUMBERS: 8 – the number of consecutive playoff wins for the Bruins, which is the most since the Bruins ripped off longer win streaks in 1970 and 1972 en route to Stanley Cups in both of those postseasons. That’s a great sign for this group.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “He had his helmet off, so he wanted to make sure he made the highlights.” –Tuukka Rask, on helmetless Torey Krug throwing a big hit on Robert Smith in what will surely be one of the indelible moments from this Stanley Cup Final series.