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The Wraparound: Blues expect to be ‘a lot better’ in Game 2

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Marcus Johansson talks to Jeremy Roenick after the Bruins' Game 1 win.

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

The St. Louis Blues got off to a great start in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Boston on Monday night, but they’ll need to finish a lot better in Game 2 tonight (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN).

Brayden Schenn’s first-period goal and Vladimir Tarasenko’s tally in the second frame gave the Blues a 2-0 lead, but they seemingly lost their legs over the final 40 minutes of the game. To the Bruins’ credit, they flipped a switch in the second period and never took their foot off the gas.

If St. Louis wants to get back in this series, they’ll need more of a complete effort from top to bottom.

“I think we’re fine in here… We know what we did is we went to the box too much,” Blues forward David Perron said after Game 1. “We lost our composure a little bit. We were not getting to our game enough below the goal line, things like that. But I think we’re gonna be a lot better next game.”

On a positive note, the only Blue that didn’t look rattled on Monday night was rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington. The 25-year-old turned aside 34 shots in Game 1, and many of those were quality chances for the Bruins. Had it not been for Binnington, the game would’ve gotten out of hand as soon as the second period.
[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

And here’s the good news for St. Louis: Binnington has an 11-2 record with a 1.81 goals-against-average and a .936 save percentage following a loss this season. With the Bruins firing on all cylinders, the Blues will need Binnington to stand tall if they’re going to steal a game in Boston.

The Blues have been in this situation before, as they fell behind 1-0 in the Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks. Also, on a somewhat related note, the Washington Capitals dropped Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, and they still managed to beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the end.

If they fall behind 2-0 in the series, they’ll look to become the first team since the 2011 Bruins to win the Stanley Cup after dropping the opening two games of the final.

STANLEY CUP FINAL PREVIEW
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Who has the better goaltending?
Who has the better special teams?
X-factors for Blues, Bruins
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How the Blues were built
How the Bruins were built
Stanley Cup Final 2019 schedule, TV info

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.