The St. Louis Blues were kings of the Western Conference, but they still had a mountain to topple in the form of the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
It wasn't exactly an easy road to the Stanley Cup Final for the Blues, though. They got past the Winnipeg Jets in six games in the first round, the Dallas Stars took them to seven games in the second round, and they had to battle back against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final.
Meanwhile, the Bruins had swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final to give Boston a bit of a rest advantage heading into the Stanley Cup Final.
That advantage showed up, as did Boston's experience in big games with the Bruins taking Game 1 by a final score of 4-2. The Bruins also had experience on their side with guys like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand leading the way.
However, it looked good early for the Blues.
Brayden Schenn opened the scoring just 7:23 into the game with assists from Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester. That was the only goal scored in the first period, and the Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead with Vladimir Tarasenko scoring one minute into the middle frame on an assist by Schenn.
But then the Bruins fought all the way back.
Connor Clifton scored the Bruins' first goal of the game just 1:16 later, and Charlie McAvoy tied it up with a power-play goal midway through the second period.
t was a tie game going into the third period until Sean Kuraly gave the Bruins their first lead of the game 5:21 into the frame. The Blues couldn't find an answer, and Marchand hit the empty net in the final minutes for an insurance goal.
The Blues and Bruins each had eight shots in the opening frame, but Boston picked it up as the game moved along. The B's outshot the Blues 18-3 in the second period and 12-9 in the third for a game total of 38-20.
"When that first goal went in, they got some momentum, and they had a big push there. We held it to a tie game going into the third, and it wasn't the outcome we wanted," Binnington said after the loss. "But it was good to feel it out, and we'll be back at 'em for Game 2."