You remember where you were. If you’re a hockey fan in Missouri, you definitely do. The air in St. Louis on June 9, 2019, felt heavy, like the humidity was holding its breath. The St. Louis Blues were one win away. Just sixty minutes of hockey stood between a franchise defined by "almost" and the first Stanley Cup in its 52-year history.
It was supposed to be the coronation. Fans flooded downtown, spilling out of bars and packing the Enterprise Center until the walls practically hummed. But hockey is a cruel sport. It doesn't care about your destiny or your "Gloria" singalongs.
The Night the Music Stopped (Temporarily)
Everyone expected a party. Instead, they got a masterclass in road efficiency from the Boston Bruins. Honestly, it was hard to watch if you were wearing blue. The Blues came out swinging, but Tuukka Rask—who was playing like a man possessed—just wouldn't blink. He robbed Brayden Schenn early with a pad save that still feels impossible.
Then the penalties happened. You can't give a team like Boston a 5-on-3 advantage. Ryan O’Reilly and Schenn both went to the box for delay of game (puck over glass) and boarding. Brad Marchand did what Marchand does: he found a seam and buried a one-timer. 1-0 Boston. The air started to leak out of the building.
Breaking Down the St. Louis Blues Game 6 Collapse
People talk about the 5-1 final score like it was a blowout from the start. It wasn't. For two periods, it was a 1-0 knife fight. The Blues had chances. They had three power plays of their own. They just couldn't solve Rask. Charlie McAvoy even swatted a puck off Rask’s back to keep it out.
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The third period is where the wheels didn't just fall off—they disintegrated.
- Brandon Carlo sent a fluttering puck toward the net that somehow bounced past Jordan Binnington.
- Karson Kuhlman, a guy who hadn't played in weeks, sniped one top-shelf.
- Ryan O’Reilly finally scored to make it 3-1, and for about four minutes, the "We Want the Cup" chants returned.
- David Pastrnak shut that down real quick with a beautiful goal with six minutes left.
- Zdeno Chara added an empty-netter because of course he did.
It was a gut punch. The Blues were the first team since 2011 to have a chance to clinch at home and fail. The local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, even accidentally ran an ad that morning celebrating the win. Talk about a jinx.
Why This Game Actually Won Them the Cup
Here is the weird thing about the St. Louis Blues Game 6 loss: it might be the reason they won Game 7.
Think about the pressure. The entire city was ready to explode. Every player had family in the stands, tickets were going for thousands of dollars, and the weight of 52 years was sitting on their shoulders. When they lost, that pressure shifted. Suddenly, they were the underdogs again. They had to go back to Boston—a place where they had already won twice in that series.
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Craig Berube, the coach who basically willed that team from last place in January to the finals in June, didn't panic. He knew his team was better on the road. They were 9-3 on the road in those playoffs heading into the finale.
Other Famous Game 6 Moments for the Note
While 2019 is the big one, the Blues have a weird history with "Game 6" scenarios.
Just last season, in the 2025 playoffs, the Blues had a wild Game 6 against the Winnipeg Jets. They scored four goals in a span of just over five minutes during the second period. It was absolute chaos. It reminded everyone that this franchise, despite the 2019 heartbreak, has a knack for high-drama clinching games.
Then you have the 2022 series against Colorado. Darren Helm scored with five seconds left in Game 6 to eliminate the Blues. It’s a recurring theme: the Blues in Game 6 are either the hammer or the nail. There is rarely an in-between.
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What Most People Get Wrong About 2019
The common narrative is that Jordan Binnington "choked" in Game 6. That's just wrong. Binnington made 27 saves. The goals he let in were either odd-man rushes or weird bounces. The Blues' offense vanished. You aren't going to win a championship scoring one goal, especially when that goal requires a video review to prove it even crossed the line.
The Bruins' penalty kill was the real MVP. They shut down a Blues power play that had been clicking. If St. Louis converts just one of those early opportunities, the entire energy of the Enterprise Center changes.
The Takeaway for Fans
If you're looking back at the legacy of the St. Louis Blues Game 6 in 2019, don't view it as a failure. View it as the final hurdle. It was the game that forced them to prove they could win the hard way. They didn't get the trophy on home ice, but they got it.
If you're tracking the Blues today, you've seen a massive shift. The team is younger now, led by guys like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Just this week, they snapped Tampa Bay's 11-game winning streak in a shootout. They still have that "blue-collar" identity, even if the names on the jerseys have changed.
How to Apply This Knowledge:
- Check the Road Stats: When betting or analyzing the Blues in the playoffs, look at their road record. Historically, this team performs better when the "home ice" pressure is off.
- Watch the Penalty Kill: In high-stakes games (like a Game 6), the Blues' success is almost always tied to their ability to stay out of the box.
- Appreciate the Bounce: Hockey is a game of inches. A puck over the glass in 2019 changed the course of sports history in St. Louis.
The 2019 Game 6 was a nightmare that ended in a dream. It taught a city that sometimes you have to lose at home to win it all on the road. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't easy, and it definitely wasn't what the fans paid for that night—but it was exactly what that team needed to find their grit for the final showdown in Boston.