Halle Throws International action, plus a world record by Hannah Cockroft, Stockholm Marathon results and more

Coverage of the England area championships in Bedford, Nuneaton and Manchester can be found here, while other recent highlights are below.

Halle Throws International, Germany, June 1-2

European indoor silver medallist Christina Schwanitz threw a European lead of 19.23m on her season opener to win the shot put competition ahead of Sweden’s Fanny Roos with a national record 18.88m.

Britain’s Sophie McKinna, who has thrown beyond 18 metres recently, was seventh with 17.57m.

Canada’s Tim Nedow won the men’s competition with 20.87m.

Also on the first day, Jamaica’s Commonwealth champion Fedrick Dacres threw 68.64m in the discus to beat Olympic silver medallist Piotr Malachowski with 65.87m as the top seven all surpassed 65 metres.

Cuba’s Denia Caballero threw 65.99m in the women’s competition to win ahead of China’s Feng Bin with 64.89m.

World champion Pawel Fajdek was a clear winner in the hammer as he threw 79.04m ahead of Michail Anastasakis of Greece’s 75.16m. Britain’s Commonwealth champion Nick Miller was fifth with 73.62m while his team-mate Taylor Campbell was ninth with 68.45m. China’s Wang Zheng with 74.89m won the women’s hammer competition.

Bernhard Seifert won the javelin with 83.05m and Kara Winger threw 62.08m to claim the women’s title ahead of European champion Christin Hussong with 61.81m.

British javelin thrower Harry Hughes, who recently set a PB of 80.32m in Loughborough, won the under-23 competition with a throw of 74.80m.

Scott Lincoln threw a shot put PB of 19.77m for the best mark by a British athlete since 2012 to win the B competition.

GB junior athletes James Tomlinson and Sarah Omoregie both also set personal bests with respective marks of 60.24m in the discus and 15.45m in the shot put.

In the women’s under-20 hammer, Britain’s Charlotte Williams and Charlotte Payne placed third and fourth respectively with 60.89m and 59.66m. In the under-16 competition Lily Murray was fourth with a 55.60m PB.

George Armstrong was sixth in the under-23 discus with 56.46m.

Arbon, Switzerland, June 1-2 

Hannah Cockroft improved her T34 400m world record, taking 0.25 off her previous best from 2017 with a time of 57.48.

European Mountain Running Championships Trials, Skiddaw, June 2

Scotland’s Jacob Adkin and Andrew Douglas claimed the top two spots in the senior men’s race to secure automatic selection for the European Mountain Running Championships in Zermatt.

Sarah Tunstall won the senior women’s race ahead of Hatti Archer as they both also secured selection.

Matthew Mackay and Eve Pannone won the junior races.

Irish Life Health All Ireland Schools’ Track and Field Championships, June 1

Aaron Sexton secured an impressive double in the senior boys’ 100m and 200m, clocking record times of 10.43 (+1.9m/sec) and 20.69 (+1.4m/sec).

Sexton, who now heads the European under-20 rankings for the 200m, will compete at the European U20 Championships in Boras before playing professional rugby with Ulster.

Sarah Healy won the senior girls’ 3000m in a championship record of 9:24.52.

Poland, June 2

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey won the 100m in 10.26 (0.2m/sec), while Anyika Onuora clocked 23.90 (0.0m/sec) in the 200m.

Lina Nielsen ran a 400m hurdles PB of 56.70.

Stockholm Marathon, Sweden, June 2

Nigussie Sahlesilassie won the men’s race in a 2:10:10 course record from fellow Ethiopian Tafese Delegen with 2:11:40.

It was an Ethiopian double as Aberash Fayesa won the women’s race in 2:33:38 from Japan’s Haruka Yamaguchi with 2:34:04.

Top Swedish athletes were Adhanom Abraha in sixth in 2:16:48 and Mikaela Larsson in third in 2:36:32.

Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon, Czech Republic, June 1

Italy’s Yassine Rachik won in a European race record of 63:02, while Lilia Fisikovici from Moldova won the women’s race in 73:29.

Britain’s Luke Traynor, who was the pre-race favourite, finished in 10th and later collapsed but posted an update on social media saying he is fine and will be undergoing tests to find out what caused his collapse.

I collapsed shortly after finishing the race. Im fine now and get tests done this week to find out what happened. Again thank you @RunCzech

— Luke Traynor (@luketraynor1) June 3, 2019

Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, San Diego, California, June 2

Kenya’s Bernard Ngeno won the men’s race in 60:08 ahead of Lawrence Cherono with 60:48.

Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa claimed the women’s title in 69:09 from Meseret Belete with 70:31, while Britain’s Alice Wright ran a PB of 71:37 to finish third.

Nashville, USA, May 31-June 1

Thomas Staines, the son of Olympians Linda and Gary, ran a World Championships qualifier of 1:45.67 for third in his 800m race in Tennessee.

CALIFORNIA, Mo. — Tyler Blank picked up another winged 360 sprint car victory Sunday night at Double-X Speedway.

Blank took the lead from Taylor Walton on lap six and led the remainder of the distance for his third victory of the season.

Kyle Bellm came on to finish second with Ayrton Gennetten, Taylor Walton and Ben Brown rounding out the top five.

Chad Staus won the 15-lap B Mod Mania feature and Rick Girard won the hobby stock main event.

Joe Miller was best in the super stock class.

VERNON, N.Y. — Matt Tanner always looks forward to the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint stops at the Utica-Rome Speedway.

The Stephentown, N.Y., admits that the slick half-mile is his favorite track on the schedule.  He came into Sunday night with three series wins at the facility. On Sunday night, he left with his fourth.

Tanner was methodical in working to the front after starting in the eighth. Tanner first appeared into the top on lap seven before moving into second on lap eight. A lap later he was able he able to wrestle the lead away from Chuck Hebing. They remained the top two with Danny Varin entering the fray late. At the checkered it was Tanner taking the E&V Energy, NAPA Auto Parts and Mach 1 Chassis A-Main feature win.

By setting fast time in his time trial group, winning his heat and then the A-Main, he won the Wick-edly Sent Triple Crown which was worth $500.

“It’s been a struggle this year,” said Tanner. “We blew the motor up the first week and bent this car last week. This is someplace we always circle on the calendar. We can’t wait to get back here. Bill and Kim (Shea) do a great job with the place. I wish they’d run sprint cars every week.”

Varin came home in second for his second podium finish of the weekend as he always finished second on Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway.

“We had a really great car tonight,” mentioned Varin.  “These are two great drivers, and there are more than two in this group.  These guys are very, very good.  It’s fun to race with them.  We just came up short tonight.”

Hebing held on to finish in third.

“We are really good car early in the race right now, but we have to figure out the laps 10 to 15 when the tires get hot on me,” stated Hebing. “That’s what happened last night at Fulton also. The car is fast. We just have to fine tune it. Both of these guys are really good here.”

Cory Sparks advanced from 12th to finish in the fourth spot while Paulie Colagiovanni scored another top-five run in fifth.

The finish:

Matt Tanner, Danny Varin, Chuck Hebing, Cory Sparks, Paulie Colagiovanni, Dylan Swiernik, Shawn Donath, Scott Holcomb, Davie Franek, Larry Wight, Sammy Reakes IV, Billy VanInwegen, Jonathan Preston, Chad Miller, Jason Barney, Jeff Cook, Brett Wright, Dave Axton, Kyle Moffit, Kelly Hebing, Tyler Cartier, Josh Pieniazek, Emily VanInwegen, Bobby Varin, Todd Gracey, Danny Peebles.

KELLYVILLE, Okla. — Ryan Gustin roped himself a rugged victory Sunday night when the USMTS invaded the Creek County Speedway for the second annual Bullring Badass.

Following up last year’s inaugural event where fans were treated to a caution-free 40-lap barnburner, another epic battle in the tight confines of the 35-year-old quarter-mile dirt oval produced another 40 circuits of rush hour traffic.

“It was elbows up, no doubt,” said Gustin, who rode into the USMTS winners circle for the first time since the final night of the Featherlite Fall Jamboree on Sept. 23, 2017. “I broke something in the left front there and, man, that thing was tight on entry.

“I didn’t want no more laps, that’s for sure. I was wore out and the car didn’t want no more either.”

Unfortunately for USMTS national points leader Rodney Sanders, his tire only had 30 laps in it. In the heat of a three-way tussle between himself, Dereck Ramirez and Gustin, Sanders slowed on the exit of turn two, which allowed Ramirez and Gustin to scoot past while Sanders came to a stop in the next corner.

Following the caution flag with ten laps remaining, Ramirez was able to nose in front of Gustin to lead lap 31, but ‘The Reaper’ came storming back on the high side to take the lead for good with eight to go.

From there, Gustin rode the dangerous but faster high line to the checkered flag with Jake O’Neil advancing to claim the runner-up spot while Ramirez held strong in third.

With last year’s winless season and a rash of mechanical woes since March of 2019, the win was just what the doctor ordered for the two-time USMTS National Champion.

“We’ve just had some tough luck you know; That’s how it goes,” said Gustin, who unveiled his new livery last weekend with new sponsor Spike Hardcore Energy. “We can’t be having any more failures or anything going on, so we have to stay on top of our maintenance program.”

It was Gustin’s 95th career triumph-third on the USMTS all-time wins list.

Terry Phillips and Mike Striegel each passed a dozen drivers en route to finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in Sunday’s main event.

The finish:

Ryan Gustin, Jake O’Neil, Dereck Ramirez, Terry Phillips, Mike Striegel, Randy Timms, Chad Davis, Hunter Marriott, Rodney Sanders, Kyle Ledford, Tyler Davis, Kale Westover, Lance Mari, Brandon Dean, Ho Dean, James Esmond, Scott Glover, Tyler Wolff, Joe Duvall, Andy Morris, Adam Kates, Joe Wright, Jason Hughes, Mark Shipman.

SLINGER, Wis. — Brad Mueller cherishes each victory he gets at any race track and he’s done quite a bit of that lately.

One victory that he’ll likely remember the most, long after he’s done racing, won’t be from the race track.

On Sunday afternoon, mere hours before the 24th running of the Alan Kulwicki Memorial at Slinger Super Speedway, Mueller watched his oldest daughter, Julia, walk across the stage and graduate from Sheboygan Falls High School.

When Julia was 13 months old, she was adopted by Mueller’s family and was brought to the U.S. from Russia.

“It was awesome; it was very awesome,” Mueller said of watching Julia graduate from high school. “To see her accomplish so much like that, knowing where she came from. We adopted her from Russia back when she was 13 months old to the young woman she is today is a great feeling.”

Mueller capped the memorable day with a victory in the Alan Kulwicki Memorial, his second triumph in the annual celebration of the former NASCAR and Slinger champion. Mueller also won the Alan Kulwicki Memorial in 2003. The race was rained out in 2007, ’11 and ’12.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee engineering professor Jean Optiz waved the green flag to start the 75-lap feature. Kulwicki graduated from UWM with a degree in engineering.

“It’s a prestigious race,” Mueller said, adding, “to win at Slinger Speedway, you got your program together if you’re winning here.”

Brad Keith finished second, followed by Nick Wagner, Chris Blawat and RJ Braun to round out the top five.

“That old guy can still wheel pretty damn good I’ll tell ya,” Keith said of Mueller. “Last year about halfway through the year we clicked on some stuff and it’s taken us a little bit this year to get back to it. Tonight’s a good testament.”

For Braun, it was his first top-five finish in only his third career super late model feature start. And it was Wagner’s best career finish in a super late model, a division he’s raced full-time in since 2012.

“Finally got something to show for all the hard work we put in,” Wagner said.

Mueller is on a hot streak.

He’s won back-to-back features at Slinger, while setting fast time in both weeks. He also won the dirt late model feature at Plymouth (Wis.) Dirt Track on Saturday. It is the second time Mueller has won dirt and asphalt feature races in the same weekend, also doing the same feat at the same two tracks in 2015.

In addition, Mueller got a firm hold of the championship lead as contenders Steve Apel and Alex Prunty posted DNFs. Mueller leads by 64 points over Apel. But, Mueller said, it’s too early to think about championship positioning.

“You don’t start thinking at all,” Mueller said. “All of a sudden I could happen what happened on the dirt where I got wrecked three weeks in a row.”

He added, “Always count your blessings whenever you have a great few weeks, always remember that bad weeks can happen.”

One thing he has been thinking about for a while is the elusive Slinger Nationals title. Mueller has been trying to win the Slinger Nationals for more than 15 years. Is 2019 his year?

It’d be hard to bet against the three-time track champion right now, who led 69 laps and finished third at last year’s Nationals.

“We have a car that’s capable of winning it every year we come here,” Mueller said. “It’s just about survival and how the cards fall at the end of the race.”

Also picking up feature wins were Matt Rose (American Super Cup), Jacob Nottestad (limited late model), Ryan Gutknecht (sportsman), Matt Urban (Slinger Bees) and Rick Bruskiewicz (Figure 8).

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — Davey Ray won the 73rd Opening Night 20-lap Zimbrick Chevrolet of Sun Prairie Badger Midget Racing Series feature Sunday at Angell Park Speedway.

The event also kicked off the 73rd year of racing at the track and is the first of nine nights of racing this season at the facility.

Mike Ungar led the opening lap, before fast qualifier Justin Peck took over the top position. Ray who after failing to record a qualifying lap, won the semi feature, to start in the 15th position. Ray passed four cars on the first lap and improved another four positions by the completion of lap three.
Ray moved into fourth position, when the events only yellow appeared for a stalled car. On the restart Peck led Chase Jones, Andy Baugh, and Ray. Ray passed Baugh on the restart.

Peck increased his lead over Jones and Ray as the paired battled for the second position. Ray gained the position on lap 12, and then chased down Peck, taking the lead at the start/finish line with five laps remaining.

Ray driving the Mark Ray No. 3 DRC/Honda finished 1.953 seconds ahead of Peck, Jones, Jack Routson and Jordan Mattson who competed the top five.

“It was a big drive to come from deep in the field, but the caution helped us and we chased everyone down, Mark and Robby had the car perfect for the feature” commented Ray after winning his 18th career midget feature at the track.
The finish:

Davey Ray, Justin Peck, Chase Jones, Jack Routson, Joran Mattson, Andy Baugh, Chase McDermand, Ryan Probst, Kevin Olson, Kurt Mayhew, Brian Peterson, Matt ReCheck, Mike Ungar, Mike Stroik, Zach Boden, Kevin Douglas, Dave Collins Jr., Pat Henson, Jeremy Douglas, Kyle Koch, Harrison Kleven, Jeff Sparks.

ST. LOUIS -- The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues have been called mirror images of each other, from their roster construction to their style of play. But the reflections of centers Patrice Bergeron and Ryan O'Reilly would be best found in a funhouse mirror. You can make out the broad similarities, but they're anything but identical.

"Yeah, they're similar for sure," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think it starts in the faceoff circle with both of them. They're very good faceoff guys and play a 200-foot game. They both work extremely hard. Bergeron, he's been here before. Ryan O'Reilly is new to it, but he's obviously been our best player arguably all year long. So it's a great matchup, to be honest with you."

Bergeron and O'Reilly are both finalists for the Selke Trophy, given to the NHL's top defensive forward. In many ways, that's where the similarities end.

Professionally, Bergeron is the more lauded of the two. Considered one of the best defensive centermen in NHL history, he has won the Selke four times and been a finalist in eight straight seasons, including this one. While his defensive acumen was always appreciated, O'Reilly was just invited to the Selke party for the first time as a finalist, along with Bergeron and Vegas winger Mark Stone. O'Reilly's only previous award win came in 2014 with the Lady Byng Award for gentlemanly play after a season in which he had just two penalty minutes in 80 games.

Aesthetically, Bergeron, 33, is a well-groomed Quebecois who wouldn't look out of place in a menswear catalog. O'Reilly, 28, is an unkempt Ontarian whose neck-consuming beard has made him one of the most instantly recognizable Blues away from the rink.

From a prestige standpoint, Bergeron has a Stanley Cup ring and is seen as a primary reason the Bruins have made the Stanley Cup Final three times since 2011, having played his entire career with the team. O'Reilly is on his third NHL team and just made it past the first round for the first time. Until recently, he thought he was the reason his teams always lost.

One is the player everyone wants to be. The other is a player finally figuring out who he is.

This never gets old for Patrice Bergeron.

Not after two Olympic gold medals, world championship gold, World Cup of Hockey gold, world junior gold, two conference titles and the Stanley Cup championship. The anticipation of a series such as the one he's in against St. Louis never feels ordinary.

"The day when there will be no more adrenaline, I will retire," he said on the eve of Game 1. "This is what you are looking for as an athlete. You want to push your limits. Adrenaline, stress and butterflies, you have to manage it the right way to use it to your advantage. These are very rewarding experiences. I put it in my treasure chest."

We're not sure where Patrice Bergron's treasure chest is located. We can report that he doesn't keep his secret formula for faceoffs in his locker stall, according to teammate Charlie Coyle.

"I wish, I wish," Coyle said, laughing. "But I ask him questions, about playing against a certain guy or about what's working or not working. It helps."

Coyle met Bergeron when he was around 12 years old and playing in a hockey tournament at Bridgewater Arena, about 45 minutes from Coyle's hometown of Weymouth, Massachusetts. (Perhaps you've heard this geographic trivia about Coyle once or twice or 10,000 times during the Bruins' playoff run.) It was during the 2005 NHL lockout, and Bergeron was skating with the AHL Providence Bruins. After the game, he met Coyle and his teammates, and the young future NHLer was starstruck for life.

"He was a young guy, but he seemed really old compared to us," Coyle said.

Fast-forward to the 2019 trade deadline, and Bergeron was the first Bruin to call Coyle after the Minnesota Wild moved him to Boston in a deal for Ryan Donato. It was hours before the Bruins were getting ready to play, and Bergeron took the time to welcome Coyle, who was back to being that 12-year-old for a moment.

"I've been watching him for a while, and playing against him through the years was a nightmare," Coyle said. "Great stick. He's always on you. Not the quickest guy. Not the strongest guy. He knows what he's good at, and he does it so well.

"Just going against him in practice, that helps too. For him to be that good defensively and be so good offensively ... it's crazy."

There are many reasons the Boston Bruins are consistent contenders, but the primary one is veteran leadership and the culture that's born from it. Harvard University wishes it had educators like the Bruins have in Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. Defensemen Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy have all grown from playing with Chara. A collection of young forwards have learned by emulating Bergeron. In both cases, these award-winning all-stars are as revered off the ice as they are on it.

Boston center Sean Kuraly was asked what he has learned from Bergeron. "Oh man, get the laundry list out," he said. "I think the biggest thing about Bergy is his consistency and the way he approaches every single day. You come in for practice on maybe one of those 11 days in our break, and maybe it's a slow day, and him and [Brad Marchand] and Zee are going all-out. It's full-go. I think the biggest thing for Bergy is just how he approaches every single day, and he's just such a pro with it, and all of his talent doesn't hurt either. How he really does combine his talent with how hard he works is really impressive."

Bergeron's value to the Bruins was never more evident than in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. In scoring a power-play goal midway through the first period, he managed to quiet the Blues' raucous crowd, get himself going offensively, start a 4-for-4 night on the power play and give Boston the start it needed.

"We knew it was going to be a loud building. A good start was important," he said. "I think you rely on the experience. Try to help the young guys on what to expect."

Bergeron led by example, and the Bruins followed. As Charlie Coyle said, that's just how it is in Boston.

"He's such an honest player. He does everything so good, everywhere on the ice," Coyle said. "You root for people like that."

For a while, Ryan O'Reilly thought he was the problem.

He had played 651 regular-season games in the NHL, and only 13 in the postseason, all with the Colorado Avalanche. His three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres were disastrous from a team perspective, as the Sabres began a "rebuild within a rebuild" after his second season. His tenure ended with the stunning revelation that he had "lost the love of the game multiple times" during last season.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong, who traded for O'Reilly last summer, was never concerned about him losing his smile.

"That honestly gave me zero pause. When you're part of an organization that's not having success, you probably -- he was speaking from the heart. He was frustrated. He wanted more from himself," he said. "I've had an opportunity to work with him internationally, I know what the man's made of. You can even go back to the [NHL combine]. We would say to players, 'Who is the hardest guy to play against?' And his name kept always popping up. We should have drafted him."

In fact, when O'Reilly got the trade call from Armstrong, his message was, "Thank you for bringing me in ... let's go win a Cup."

Then the St. Louis Blues started losing. And losing some more. So many losses that they ended up in the NHL's basement as late as January.

"It was frustrating. I was coming off a bad year, I come to a great team, and then they get off to a bad start. I was worried I was a big part of why they were losing -- that I had to something to do with it," he said.

O'Reilly spoke to his father, Brian, a sports performance coach who consults with the San Jose Sharks. He asked him if, perhaps, he were the problem. His father gave him this advice: Wait it out. Be patient. This was a new team, with a few key additions from the previous summer joining O'Reilly on the Blues. It was going to take time to come together.

It eventually did, in one of the more dramatic turnarounds in recent NHL history.

"It's amazing how things turned out. It truly is a rollercoaster ... you go through this massive run, and you're not sure if there's going to be changes, and they stick with us, and we stick together. We keep going, and we find a way to win. Then you win one series, and then another and another," O'Reilly said, motioning with his hand.

"At times, I have to pinch myself. It's weird. It doesn't feel like June. It just feels like I've been playing hockey. But around this time, I'm usually resting. Doing nothing. Away from the game. It's what the dream is: to be in these scenarios. On my off days, I try to stay away from hockey. Clear my head. But it creeps into your head sometimes. You have to calm yourself back down."

Through the Blues' early struggles, O'Reilly was consistently their best player. He played in all 82 games, posting the best points-per-game average (0.94) of his career and tying his career best of 28 goals, despite starting less than 50 percent of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. Defensively, he had an expected goals percentage of 57.57 and was a plus-24 in goals at 5-on-5.

"Just an all-around great two-way center. The kind of player that you need to go far and succeed," Blues teammate Tyler Bozak said. "I learned that playing against him, and honestly playing with him you realize that he's better than you even thought. Especially with how hard he works. I had heard about his work ethic and how he takes care of himself off the ice. But to see it is impressive. He's one of the first guys on the ice at practice [and] one of the last guys off."

Like Bergeron, he leads by example.

"Every time you touch the ice, work ethic is the most important thing, when you get a chance to practice and work on the things you're struggling with," he said. "I learned from my dad at a young age that you have to put in the time. It's something that builds confidence in me. Practicing those uncomfortable plays. The more time I put in, the better I feel coming into the game. We have some young guys here who like to work. They give me energy as well."

O'Reilly has that Sidney Crosby-esque thing where if a play goes wrong during a game, he'll take it apart and put it back together in practice.

"If there's a play last game that I mishandled or I didn't see what I wanted to see on it, I take some reps on that. So if it happens again, I'm not worried about it," he said.

Sometimes you have to strip hockey down to its basics, such as timing, patience and persistence. That's how you learn from your lowest moments -- or, in the case of O'Reilly, learn that you aren't the reason they happen.

"I have the greatest job in the world," he said. "But losing sucks. Losing is the worst part of it. To win is the best part of it."

As different as they are, that holds true for both Ryan O'Reilly and Patrice Bergeron.

Berube and Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy haven't given Bergeron and O'Reilly much head-to-head action through three games of the Stanley Cup Final. They barely see each other at 5-on-5. The battle of two of the best defensive centermen on the planet has been fought in the abstract and the intangibles.

"Obviously, he's the best two-way player in the game today," O'Reilly said of Bergeron before the series. "The thing I like about our team is our depth. We have a lot of guys who can play hard."

When he does see Bergeron on the ice?

"I think, 'I gotta move, I gotta get away. I need to escape.' Smart players are always in the right position," O'Reilly said.

One of the two will hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of this series. O'Reilly could create a legacy. Bergeron could further cement one. And if they fall short, they've learned that these experiences are the ones you learn from and the ones you can use to help others learn.

"You try to use your experience in great moments, I want to use it as best as I can. I have exceptional and unforgettable memories of our win in 2011. For 2013 [losing in the Cup Final], it was a more difficult moment. But I learned from both experiences," Bergeron said. "I would say that I may have grown up more in the Final defeat. I have said it often since the beginning of the series. I take the days one at a time. I stay in the moment."

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Monday between the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, with the Bruins leading 2-1 after their 7-2 rout of the Blues on Saturday. What can we expect in this critical matchup in St. Louis? Here's a little primer in today's Stanley Cup Daily.

Do the Blues have any hope here?

C'mon now, it's a 2-1 series. Remember how you felt after the Bruins' emphatic win after Game 1? And then the Blues came back and won Game 2 in overtime, and it was a brand new series? A split of the first four games of the Final is entirely possible.

Possible or probable?

Probably possible? Look, the reality for the Blues is they've been outscored 13-7 in the series, and an argument can be made that they've been thoroughly outplayed when all things are equal. There have been nine regulation periods in this series. The Blues have held the shot attempt advantage in five of them. But that includes two periods in Game 3 in which the Bruins had a four-goal lead and two periods in Game 2 in which the Bruins had five defensemen. Also concerning: The Bruins have scored five goals in the first period of the past two games. That can't continue to happen.

But the Blues have one big hope for Game 4: Jordan Binnington.

The same Jordan Binnington who was pulled in Game 3?

The same one. It was the first time in his brief NHL career that the rookie sensation was pulled, so no one can be exactly sure how he'll react. But after losses, Binnington has been money: 6-2 with a 1.84 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage in the postseason. If the Blues are going to bounce back in this series, it'll be with that kind of effort.

How hard is Craig Berube working the refs right now?

Beyoncé wishes she worked this hard at a live show. The Blues coach tossed off the idea that his team has played undisciplined hockey in the first three games of the series -- handing the Bruins 14 power plays on which they've scored six goals -- because the Blues aren't really the kind of team that takes penalties.

"We were the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds, " he said." Now all of a sudden we've taken 14 penalties in one series. So I don't know. I don't buy into all of that, to be honest with you. I think that we could definitely be more composed after the whistle. I think we've let some frustration get in there where we maybe do too much after the whistle. So we'll clean that up, for sure. But like I said, we were the least penalized team in the league coming into this series. I don't agree with all of the calls."

Does he have a point?

At the risk of getting slammed by those who think the NHL is in the tank for Bruins owner and Gary Bettman confidant Jeremy Jacobs ... no. You have to work to earn your power-play chances in the playoffs, and the Blues haven't earned enough of those opportunities with offensive zone time. In Game 3, Berube had only himself to blame for the delay of game penalty born from their failed coach's challenge on Sean Kuraly's first-period goal, which David Pastrnak turned into a 4-0 lead 41 seconds into the second period on the ensuing power play.

It never hurts to work the refs, but we're not sure the Blues have a gripe here. The players, in fact, have been acknowledging that emotions (and the Bruins) are getting the best of them. "We've got to do a better job as a team playing whistle to whistle, playing hard from the whistle to not worrying about the stuff after," center Brayden Schenn said. "I feel like if we can do that, we're effective. If we're worrying about playing hockey and not that extra stuff, we've got to focus on that."

Ryan O'Reilly, meanwhile, was one of the first Blues players to use the F-word when considering the penalties: "fatigue."

How great is this Bruins power play?

Well, considering they scored four goals on four shots in Game 3, we'd say pretty good. Considering they are one of only two teams in Stanley Cup Final history to have a perfect night on the power play with at least four attempts (the other being the 1980 New York Islanders), we'd say historically good.

Why was it so good in Game 3?

Essentially, they stopped trying to force plays and took what the Blues were giving them. That included adding some movement to create seams for players such as point man Torey Krug (who had four points in Game 3) and shifting the power play's "bumper," Patrice Bergeron, from the half wall to higher in the zone, from where he deflected home the team's first goal. Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said the team worked on recovering pucks and supporting players in the attacking zone on the power play, which wasn't happening enough in Games 1 and 2. With these adjustments, a great thing got even better.

Any lineup changes to watch?

Only one for certain, which is the return of Blues fourth-line center (and sorely missed penalty-killer) Oskar Sundqvist after his one-game suspension for an illegal check in Game 2. Defenseman Vince Dunn seems like he's inching closer to a return for the Blues, and injured forward Robert Thomas remains questionable. Berube spoke glowingly of center Zach Sanford's play in Game 3, so he'll be an option.

Finally, what can we expect from the crowd?

Good question. The Blues failed to capitalize on the emotions of the first Stanley Cup Final game in St. Louis since 1970. In fact, after they blew a power-play chance just over three minutes into the game and the Bruins scored on one of their own minutes later, that energy started to change from elation to consternation.

That said, the crowds have been awesome in St. Louis, and this atmosphere will be no different. The Blues just have to do what they can to make sure the game isn't out of reach after 21 minutes this time.

And now, a counterargument from the Honorable Brad Marchand:

"There's a lot of energy in every single building in the NHL. Stanley Cup Final, it's expected, it's been that way the entire playoffs. Vegas has more energy in warm-ups than any team in the entire league. Yeah, it's loud in here, it's fun. It's loud in every building in the playoffs. Again, when you get on the ice, [the fans] mean nothing. It means nothing. You play the game on the ice. They're not out there stopping plays or scoring goals. It's what's played on the ice. That's what we're worried about. We're worried about the team that we're playing. We're worried about our team in here and not how loud the rink is."