Los Angeles: Sean Kuraly scored the game winner early in the third as the Boston Bruins rallied with four unanswered goals to beat the St Louis Blues 4-2 in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals.

After a slow start Monday, the Bruins picked up where they left off, shaking off the rust of a 10-day break to win their eighth consecutive game in the postseason.

Kuraly’s third tally of the playoffs came 5:21 into the final period to break the deadlock and cap a four-goal scoring burst by the Bruins, who fell behind 2-0 early in the second.

Boston forward Noel Acciari made a spinning pass across the crease that Kuraly managed to kick from his skate to his stick before slamming it home.

“I am just trying to play hard. I am happy it went in,” said Kuraly. “We are going to have to keep getting better. This team is not going anywhere.”

Game two is Wednesday in Boston.

The Blues are seeking to claim their first-ever championship, while the Bruins are gunning for their first title since 2011.

Defenceman Connor Clifton, Charlie McAvoy on the powerplay and Brad Marchand, with an empty netter, also scored for the Bruins, who are playing in the finals for the third time this decade.

The Bruins got scoring from unlikely places with their fourth line leading the offensive charge and the defence chipping in with two helpers. Kuraly, who plays on the fourth line, also had goal and an assist in game seven of the first round of the playoffs.

Schenn got the puck in the high slot, made a nifty little stickhandle and fired it into upper half of the net.

The stickhandle move did its job by freezing Binnington and it’s something that was lacking from Schenn’s game earlier in the playoffs when he was mired in a scoring slump.

Agence France-Presse