Watch: Packed Arena Steps Up When Anthem Malfunctions Before Stanley Cup Game 2
St. Louis Blues fans are fired up to be making their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1970 when they lost to the Boston Bruins.
Now, 49 years later, they’ve made a long-awaited return trip and are facing those same Bruins for the 2019 Stanley Cup.
Game 2 was played in Boston, but the Blues faithful packed their home arena, the Enterprise Center, to the rafters to watch the game on the jumbotron.
You could tell it would be a special night right from the start for the Blues when something unexpected and pretty awesome happened at the watch party.
During the national anthem, the feed from Boston went dead for a moment, but Blues fans made sure “The Star-Spangled Banner” kept going.
When the game feed froze back in St. Louis at the watch party, #stlblues fans filled in to finish the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/v52Z9DLXLl
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 30, 2019
More than 18,000 Blues fans belted out the lyrics to the anthem in unison, completely drowning out the feed once it came back on.
It’s hard not to get chills watching that.
Some 1,200 miles to the east in Boston, the Blues players couldn’t hear their fans, but they played inspired in defeating the Bruins 3-2 in overtime to tie the series at 1-1.
Fans dance to “Gloria”, high-five ushers as they celebrate the @StLouisBlues 3-2 win in overtime at the Game 2 Stanley Cup Final watch party at the Enterprise Center. #LetsGoBlues #WeWantCup pic.twitter.com/qucCH7HnYI
— Laurie Skrivan (@LaurieSkrivan) May 30, 2019
Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson drilled a slapshot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask three minutes and 51 minutes into overtime for the win.
“I was close in the third with the post and I had a little talk in the locker room between periods there — before the OT — and I just told him (coach Craig Berube) I needed one more,” Gunnarsson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Cue “Gloria.”
It’s a GLORIA kind of night in St. Louis thanks to Carl Gunnarsson’s overtime winner!
It’s the goal that give the @stlouisblues their first #StanleyCup Final win in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/sALQKOuc36
— #StanleyCup on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) May 30, 2019
It was the first game the franchise has ever won in the Stanley Cup Finals.
They have been there three times previously — 1968, 1969 and 1970 — but were swept each time.
Fans at the watch party were going crazy after the win.
“This is as close to heaven as I have ever been,” Blues super fan Ron Baechle, aka “The Towel Man,” told the Post-Dispatch after the win.
OH BABY!!!! BLUES WIN! BLUES WIN!!! GO CRAZY FOLKS! GO CRAZY!!! FIRST STANLEY CUP FINALS VICTORY IN BLUES FRANCHISE HISTORY!!!! #WEALLBLEEDBLUE #ALLTOGETHERNOW #LETSGOBLUES #LETSGOBLUES #GLORIA pic.twitter.com/VdNoNTZqaB
— Tommy Spillan (@Spillan_66) May 30, 2019
“I can’t explain it. I am 33 years old and I have been waiting to see this my entire life,” Brett Biaggio said.
Game 3 is back in St. Louis on Saturday. It should be wild.
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