Boston Bruins: Intensity has well and truly hit Stanley Cup Final levels

It’s safe to say that Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final marked a point at which the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues became not just rivals, but enemies.

A steady parade of players to the penalty box played a big role in the Boston Bruins’ 7-2 victory, but it was all of the niggly little plays and underhanded tactics that elevated the St. Louis Blues from plain rival status. The constant runs at Tuukka Rask in particular elevate them to enemy territory in my books.

It’s a bold word to use, but that’s the nature of the Stanley Cup Final; you could be like David Backes, playing against a team that drafted you, that you captained and that you still maintain really good friendships with guys on their roster. However, in the intense heat of competition, you wouldn’t expect Backes to suddenly lay low. He, given the chance and should the need arise, will defend his current Boston Bruins teammates. Such is the lure of the Cup.

Right now, they are the enemy and leading that charge is public enemy number one, at least in the eyes of Boston Bruins fans – David Perron.

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David Perron, aside from being a general nuisance, engaged multiple times in extra-curricular cross-checks, riding of player’s backs, shoving faces into the ice and taking shots at Rask, even after the whistle.

In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that Perron was attempting to goad a Boston Bruins’ player into making a poor decision and ending up suspended. Whether this style of play from the Blues came as a direct result of seeing Oskar Sundqvist suspended or whether it was an attempt to intimidate the Boston Bruins on St. Louis’ home ice; we may never know, what we do know though is that it failed.

The fact that St. Louis only tallied 14 penalty minutes speaks to rather lax refereeing, but the fact of the matter on the night was that the Boston Bruins converted on all four power-plays. The Blues, by comparison, were locked out in all but 1 of their 5 man-advantages.

Right now, the Stanley Cup is realistically the Boston Bruins to lose. If they can maintain their discipline and not fall afoul of the extra-curricular activites that St. Louis keep trying to force, they are as near as there.

After Game 3, it’s fair to say that Boston Bruins fans would love to see Zdeno Chara step up to David Perron, heck David Backes would do (probably a little fairer on Perron). In fact, if Backes were to answer the call, it’d be beyond well-received by Bruins fans given who they’re against!

Of course, we shall see what happens in Game 4, but the bar has been set and it won’t be a shock if someone is answering the bell before the end of this series. The intensity is well and truly at the level you expect when the Stanely Cup is this close.