What the Blues had to say about their controversial Game 5 win in the Stanley Cup Final
"I'm not here to judge officials."
The St. Louis Blues took a 3-2 lead in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final thanks to a 2-1 win at TD Garden in Thursday’s Game 5 against the Bruins.
The game was not without its controversy, however, as the Blues’ second (and eventual winning) goal from David Perron occurred at the end of a sequence when it appeared St. Louis was guilty of tripping.
Even Cam Neely was fired up about that no-call #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/lxXqmXYg52
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) June 7, 2019
Blues forward Tyler Bozak — who appeared to have committed a tripping penalty against Noel Acciari immediately before Perron’s deciding goal in the third period — spoke afterward about the non-call.
“It was just a puck battle for me,” said Bozak. “Obviously the game’s fast. You’re trying to keep the puck in at the time, and get the puck. Lucky enough for us, we got the puck back there and it ended up in the back of the net, so we’ll take it.”
Bozak on what it’d mean for a veteran like Bouwmeester to win The Cup: “You play extra hard for guys like that. … You want to do it for the guy next to you and everyone in that room.” #stlblues pic.twitter.com/lvTF4fzjw7
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) June 7, 2019
Bozak, who lost to the Bruins on multiple occasions in Game 7 scenarios as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in past seasons, noted that it was nice to “finish that one off tonight.”
Asked Tyler Bozak if it was a little sweeter this win came in Boston. He smiled and chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Obviously I’ve been through a lot in this rink. It’s nice to kinda finish that one off tonight.”
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) June 7, 2019
Perron mentioned the dissatisfaction of Bruins fans, but focused more on his goal.
“Yeah I know there’s something I guess the fans weren’t too happy, I don’t know,” said Perron of the apparent tripping. “From talking quickly to [Bozak] I guess the puck was in his skate, he’s playing the puck, and there was an opening that O’Reilly created by being really strong on the puck and [he] poked it to me. I had [Bozak] back door and tried for him, and tried again and it went in. So good goal for sure. Big goal.”
Blues coach Craig Berube also responded to the charge from Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy that Berube’s complaints about penalty calls earlier in the series may have had an effect on the officiating.
“That my comments changed [game series]? I don’t agree with it, but it doesn’t matter,” said Berube. “I’m not here to judge officials, and calls that could have been or couldn’t have been. They go both ways. I mean there are calls the other that could’ve been called and they weren’t so I don’t know what to say about that. I really don’t want to say anything about it.”
Craig Berube: “Our goalie was good and our team was gutsy.” #stlblues #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/OL6kDgx9nk
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) June 7, 2019
“We play a hard game,” said Berube. “We’re a physical team. We forecheck hard.”
“That’s become our identity,” Blues forward Zach Sanford explained of the team’s physicality. “We’ve done a pretty good job of finding that fine line. If we can play on that line and stay disciplined too, that’s what’s made us so successful.”
