BOSTON — The Boston Bruins fell at home in Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, in the Stanley Cup Final, delivering the Blues their first-ever championship.
St. Louis won on the strength of two goals in the first and another pair in the third. Ryan O’Reilly scored for the fourth consecutive game – a feat not done since Wayne Gretzky – while captain Alex Pietrangelo, Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford scored the other tallies.
Matt Grzelcyk scored the lone tally for Boston, slotting one past Jordan Binnington with 2:10 to go in the third.
O'Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
PREVIOUS: Bruins force Game 7 with 5-1 win in St. Louis
St. Louis had a chance to clinch the Cup on home ice in Game 6, but the Bruins earned a 5-1 victory to set up the decisive match at TD Garden.
Boston, the champions of the Eastern Conference, reached their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons after sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Finals. Conversely, St. Louis appears in the championship round for the first time in 49 years after defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games in the Western Conference Finals.
This series is the second time the two squads square off with the Stanley Cup on the line. The first came in 1970 - the last time the Blues played in the final round - when Boston won the series four games to none.
>>>MORE: PHOTOS: Bruins fans getting ready for Stanley Cup Game 7 in Boston.
Follow along for live updates throughout the night, and follow @Boston25 on Twitter for the latest.
LIVE UPDATES:
10:43 p.m.: Final: Blues 4, Bruins 1
10:40 p.m.: Matt Grzelcyk scored for Boston to make the score 4-1 with 2:11 to go in the third.
10:35 p.m.: Zach Sanford makes it 4-0 Blues.
10:24 p.m.: Brayden Schenn catches a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko and one-times it into the Boston cage. 3-0 Blues.
10:08 p.m.: The third period is underway.
9:51 p.m.: After 2: St. Louis 2, Boston 0
9:37 p.m.: No goals or penalties thus far in the second period as the Bruins still trail the St. Louis Blues, 2-0, with 6:11 to go in the second.
9:15 p.m.: The second period has begun.
8:58 p.m.: After 1: Blues 2, Bruins 0.
8:57 p.m.: Seconds before the period ends, St. Louis makes it 2-0 on a backhander from Alex Pietrangelo with 7.9 to go.
8:48 p.m.: St. Louis takes a 1-0 lead as Ryan O'Reilly deflects a shot through the pads of Tuukka Rask.
8:38 p.m.: Blues kill the minor penalty.
8:35 p.m.: With 12:03 to go in the first, the Bruins have the first power play of the contest. Colton Parayko off for Delay of Game.
8:21 p.m.: Game 7 is underway.
8:15 p.m.: Bruins start their fourth line of Nordstrom-Kuraly-Acciari with their top defensive pair of Chara-McAvoy. Rask in net. Here we go. Matt Grzelcyk will also make his first appearance in the series since sustaining a concussion in Game 2.
7:30 p.m.: The Bruins have posted a video before Game 7, previewing their battle ahead.