BHN Daily Links: St. Louis One Win Away, San Jose Injuries, Chara Doesn’t Practice

Not in a good mood this morning? Maybe you’re still reeling from Sunday night’s series finale of Game of Thrones. Maybe it’s because it’s Monday. If you’re in Boston, maybe it’s because we’re still a week away from the Stanley Cup Final.

There are legitimate reasons to worry that this extended time off for Boston could be the road spikes on their path to a championship. Tuukka Rask is an otherworldly zone, and Boston’s top line started to click in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final. So who better to get advice from than Bill Belichick. Ryan Darnley of Causeway Crowd writes about how the Bruins could learn from Belichick’s experience with time off before championship games. Alex Thomas also explores the Belichick-Bruins connection for Boston Hockey Now.

Speaking of reasons to worry, Erik Karlsson and captain Joe Pavelski were both injured in a 5-0 San Jose Sharks loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. Karlsson has 16 points in 19 games this postseason and Pavelski has four goals and five assists this postseason. Read more about what these injuries mean for San Jose on  NHL.com.

Here’s the hit that caused the Pavelski injury:

With their dominance over San Jose in Game 5 of the WCF, St. Louis can now clinch a trip the Stanley Cup Final with a win Tuesday night. This would be their first trip to the Cup Final since 1970. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch examines the Game 5 destruction of San Jose and what a trip to the Cup Final would mean to St. Louis.

While San Jose and St. Louis battle it out for a spot in the Cup Final, the Boston Bruins are doing their best to keep their legs fresh. Boston had their first practice since winning the ECF and while Zdeno Chara didn’t practice on Sunday Bruce Cassidy expects him to be on the ice soon. (BHN)

The Pittsburgh Penguins have depth a problem heading into next season. Pittsburgh Hockey Now takes a look at which players could snag the open jobs on Pittsburgh’s roster.

If your gaze is already fixed toward the NHL offseason, make sure to check out the Hockey News where they look into their crystal ball to predict which teams will make big splashes this offseason.