St. Louis @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2019 ) Boston 1, St. Louis 2

The St. Louis Blues are returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970, with the brief four-game affair timelessly preserved by the iconic photo of Hall of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr taking flight after scoring the clinching goal. Forty-nine years later, the Blues bid for the franchise's first win in the NHL's final round on Monday whey they visit the Boston Bruins.

The Blues have traveled quite the path in 2019, navigating their way out of the NHL's cellar on Jan. 3 with a 30-10-5 mark the rest of the regular season and putting themselves in position to potentially end the second-longest Stanley Cup drought (Toronto) among the league's current teams. St. Louis posted six- and seven-game series victories over Central Division rivals Winnipeg and Dallas before outlasting injury-riddled San Jose in six games in the Western Conference final. While the Blues will be six days moved from their 5-1 series-clinching win over the Sharks, the Bruins will have last played on May 16 (a 4-0 win over Carolina) when they make their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years and 20th in franchise history. "It's been a long stretch of not playing games," Boston forward Charlie Coyle told reporters. "We're just itching to get there. But we've just used the time to our advantage, stay positive and stay upbeat. Once the time comes, we'll be ready."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA

ABOUT THE BLUES: Jaden Schwartz has stepped up his play in the playoffs, erupting for 12 goals in 19 games after mustering 11 in 69 regular-season contests. The 26-year-old tallied four times in the series versus San Jose, moving him within one of Hall of Famer Brett Hull's franchise record of 13 postseason goals. Calder Trophy finalist Jordan Binnington followed up his sizzling 24-5-1 mark and an NHL-best 1.89 goals-against average in the regular season by becoming the fifth rookie goaltender in league history to post his team's first 12 wins in a single postseason.

ABOUT THE BRUINS: Long known for his pesky play and, let's just say, curious antics, Brad Marchand has followed up a career season in which he recorded 100 points (36 goals, 64 assists) with a team-leading 18 (seven goals, 11 assists) in the playoffs. Marchand matched linemate Patrice Bergeron with five in the four-game sweep of Carolina in the Eastern Conference final, although Tuukka Rask arguably is a notch ahead in the Conn Smythe Trophy discussion. The former Vezina Trophy recipient has collected shutouts in each of the last two series-clinching wins as he returns to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2013.

OVERTIME

1. Boston posted a 5-2 win over visiting St. Louis on Jan. 17 before the latter rebounded at home with a 2-1 shootout victory on Feb. 23.

2. Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko is riding a six-game point streak (three goals, five assists).

3. The Bruins converted 7-of-15 power-play opportunities versus the Hurricanes, boosting their percentage with the man advantage to 34.0 (17-for-50) in the playoffs.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Blues 2