Boston @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 1, 2019 ) Boston 7, St. Louis 2

The St. Louis Blues waited 49 years between hosting games in the Stanley Cup Final, and another such contest after Monday's Game 4 might not be in the cards if they don't take a more disciplined approach against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins scored four power-play goals on as many shots to breeze to a 7-2 victory on Saturday and take a 2-1 edge in the series.

Boston has scored with the man advantage in each of its past seven games to match a franchise postseason record, while its 23 power-play goals are one shy of the club mark for one playoff season (1991). Defenseman Torey Krug made St. Louis pay for its infractions in Game 3, collecting the primary assist on three of the goals with the man advantage and scoring on the other one for a franchise-best four points in the Finals. The power play surge contributed to five goals being allowed on 19 shots for Calder Trophy finalist Jordan Binnington, who was pulled for the first time in 52 starts this season. "You prepare the same way," the 25-year-old Binnington told reporters of his mindset for Game 4. "Believe in your teammates and believe in yourself. Got to do your job. You just have to handle adversity. It's not going to be perfect. These things will happen. You regroup and move on."

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

ABOUT THE BRUINS: The members of the "Perfection Line" contributed to Boston's potent power play, with Patrice Bergeron scoring a goal and setting up two others to lower the volume on audible speculation that he is playing through an injury. "Watch the game tonight. Does he look hurt?" linemate Brad Marchand told reporters of the four-time Selke Trophy recipient, whose NHL-best seven power-play goals are two shy of the league playoff record (Mike Bossy, Cam Neely). Marchand notched his ninth power-play assist on Krug's goal and David Pastrnak scored with the man advantage just 41 seconds into the second period for his eighth tally of the playoffs.

ABOUT THE BLUES: St. Louis coach Craig Berube is at a loss as to why his club has been whistled for penalties as much as it has in the first three games of Stanley Cup Final. "First of all, we were the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds; now all of a sudden we've taken 14 penalties in one series," Berube told the media on Sunday. "So I don't know. I don't buy into all of that, to be honest with you." While the Bruins' power play is a staggering 6-for-14 in the series, the Blues have converted just one of their 10 opportunities with the man advantage.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis F Ivan Barbashev has collected four points (three goals, one assist) in his last seven games.

2. Boston G Tuukka Rask has turned aside 164 of 168 shots to win his last five road starts.

3. The Blues were 1-2 in Game 4 of their first three postseason series.

PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Blues 2