The Blues were 1-1-0 against the Bruins this season, losing 5-2 at Boston on Jan. 17 and winning 2-1 in a shootout at home on Feb. 23. Eight Blues had one point each, including goals by O'Reilly, Alexander Steen and Carl Gunnarsson. Jordan Binnington made 31 saves in the shootout win, and Jake Allen allowed four goals on 26 shots in the loss.
Chris Wagner had two goals and an assist, David Krejci had three assists, and Torey Krug had a goal and an assist for Boston. Rask started each game and allowed three goals on 59 shots (1.44 goals-against average, .949 save percentage).
"It's going to be a tough challenge. That's a very good hockey team over there. They've played very well," O'Reilly said. "They just swept the Hurricanes, which is extremely tough to do. It's going to be tough, but we're a great team and I have confidence that we can do this."
Binnington made his fist start of the season Jan. 7 and went 24-5-1 in the regular season. His 12 Stanley Cup Playoff wins are a Blues record.
"I think the big one was having Binnington] come in," O'Reilly said. "He brought some swagger to us, he won some games by himself. That gave us some confidence. Once we started to feel good about ourselves, we just really came together, and he was a big reason, sparking us like he did."
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Bruins forward David Backes played his first 727 NHL games for the Blues before he signed with Boston as a free agent prior to the 2016-17 season.
"It would be a lot of emotion, no question," Backes said. "It's a place that's near and dear to my heart, still got a lot of friends on that team, wish them the best, but I'm more concentrated on the Boston Bruins winning a Stanley Cup."
The Bruins are 2-0 in playoff series against the Blues; they also swept them in the NHL semifinals in 1972.
"They have a hard team, a hard team to play against, a really skilled team," St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. "We have a hard team too. It's going to be interesting games. I always told you we were going for the Cup. Just have a couple days to recharge and go for more games."
St. Louis was swept in the Stanley Cup Final in its first three seasons after joining the NHL as part of the 1967-68 expansion. Boston has won the Stanley Cup six times (1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, 1972, 2011).
"We've earned the right to be where we are, to go to the Stanley Cup Final," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We've beaten three good teams. There is some unfinished business, so that's part of the emotion you want to keep in check. You want to enjoy it, but I think our guys understand there are still four more steps to take."
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