Ryan O'Reilly scored twice as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 in game four on Tuesday (NZT) to level the best-of-seven NHL Stanley Cup Finals series.
After an embarrassing 7-2 blowout in game three, the Blues responded with their first-ever home victory in a Stanley Cup finals series, in which they have appeared in three times before but never won the trophy.
The Blues struck first with a wrap-around goal from O'Reilly that got past the outstretched skate of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask just 43 seconds into the game.
Boston's Charlie Coyle tied the game later in the period after he rebounded a shot blocked by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington and fired it from point blank range into the net.
The Blues regained the lead on a second-chance opportunity of their own when Vladimir Tarasenko rebounded a blocked shot by Rask and buried it into the net to give the home side a 2-1 lead.
Early in the second period Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara blocked a shot and the puck jumped off his stick and hit him in the mouth, leading to heavy bleeding and sending the team captain out of the game.
The Bruins then levelled the game on a short-handed goal by Brandon Carlo, his first of the playoffs, with 5:41 left in the second but O'Reilly struck again on a rebounded shot to put the Blues ahead 3-2.
An empty net goal by Brayden Schenn in the final minutes sealed the win for the home side.
The series shifts back to Boston for game five on Friday.
Reuters
