Blues win Game Four to even up series

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Ryan O’Reilly scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period for his second of the night, and the St. Louis Blues thrived in a chaotic Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night to beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 and tie the series at two games apiece.

O’Reilly ended an eight-game goal drought by scoring 43 seconds into the game and with 9:22 left in the third period. The game was a back-and-forth thriller, with Boston’s Tuukka Rask and St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington each giving up tons of rebounds for frantic scoring chances and scrums.

Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Blues, and Binnington made 21 saves to improve to 7-2 in the playoffs after a loss. Even more impressive was the rookie’s bounce-back from being pulled in Game 3 for the first time in his NHL career.

Rask allowed three goals on 37 shots and was on the receiving end of Blues onslaughts at times. Charlie Coyle scored for the third consecutive game, and Brandon Carlo had a short-handed goal for Boston, which was worn out by going down to five defensemen again after Zdeno Chara left bloodied after taking a puck to the face.

Game 5 is Thursday night in Boston.