O'Reilly's Goal Lifts Blues Over Bruins To Tie Stanley Cup Final At Two Games Apiece

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins and their fans had hopes of ensuring that the Stanley Cup would be in attendance for Thursday night's Game 5. The St. Louis Blues had other plans.

The Blues responded to Saturday's 7-2 thumping by beating the Bruins 4-2 in Game 4 on Monday.

As a result, the Stanley Cup Final is all knotted up at two games apiece. It's now a best-of-three series.

Ryan O'Reilly scored midway through the third period to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. His second tally of the night came off a rebound from a heavy Alex Pietrangelo shot from the right wing.

Brayden Schenn later stripped Connor Clifton of the puck and scored an empty-net goal from the neutral zone with 1:29 left in regulation to make it a 4-2 lead.

Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in the losing effort. Jordan Binnington stopped 21 Boston shots in the win.

O'Reilly got the scoring started very early, when he pounced on a rebound and beat Rask on a quick wraparound just 43 seconds into the game.

Vince Dunn, playing his first game of the series after taking a puck to the face in the conference finals, picked up an assist on that goal, as it was his shot from the point (and a Zach Sanford tip) that set up O'Reilly.

The Bruins responded later in the first, with Charlie Coyle depositing a rebound past Binnington after a Zdeno Chara shot on goal from a bad angle.

The Blues, though, regained a one-goal lead when Vladimir Tarasenko was left alone in the slot to chip a rebound past Rask to make the score 2-1 with 4:30 left in the opening period.

After losing Chara to an injury when a puck deflected off his face, the Bruins managed to keep the score at 2-1 in the second before capitalizing on a shorthanded chance. Brad Marchand chipped a puck to Patrice Bergeron, who sent a shot on net. Binnington made a save but kicked a rebound directly to Brandon Carlo, who was completely uncovered. Carlo scored on the rebound, becoming the 20th member of the Bruins to score this postseason and more importantly tying the game at two goals apiece. The 2-2 score held through the second intermission.

Chara did return to the bench in the third period, wearing a full mask, but he did not play.

The series now shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Thursday night.

In:
• Boston Bruins
• NHL
• St. Louis Blues
• Tuukka Rask