Stanley Cup Final: Blues outlast Bruins, 2-1 to win Game 5, take series lead back to St. Louis

The St. Louis Blues are now one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup for the very first time, after grabbing a momentum-stealing 2-1 Game 5 victory Thursday night to take a 3-2 series lead in the Final.

Boston returned to TD Garden with a prime opportunity to retake a series lead following a 4-2 loss in St. Louis in Game 4, and Bruins fans had added reason for hope at home with defenseman Zdeno Chara gritting his way through a broken jaw. But an unusually stagnant first line, which has largely failed to jump-start Boston outside of the power play during the series, remained quiet while Blues goalie Jordan Binnington fended 38 of the 39 shots he faced.

Questionable calls were littered throughout the contest, with St. Louis' Zach Sanfordgetting away with a couple of apparent high hits on Torey Krug and Tyler Bozakreceiving no penalty for a blatant trip of Noel Acciari right before the Blues' second goal of the night. But even with the contested officiating, which at one point had Bruins fans hurling things onto the ice in protest, Boston seemed mostly lifeless for much of the night.

Binnington, of course, deserves some credit for that. The 25-year-old net-minder had one of the best games of his young NHL career, shielding St. Louis from a late offensive attack that saw Boston narrow its deficit to one goal on a delayed-penalty score by Jake DeBrusk. Most headlines will assuredly focus on Bozak's trip en route to David Perron's game-winning goal, but the Blues were powered just as much by Binnington's work against in net as their penalty kill, which has allowed exactly zero scores since the Bruins scored four times on the man-advantage in Game 3.

The Bruins have been equally as ineffective in 5-on-5 competition as of late -- a serious concern for a team that employs Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. And if they don't fix it soon, there won't be another chance for redemption in Boston.