Coyle, Bruins locals lament missed opportunity as Blues seize the Cup

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara congratulates the Blues' Ryan O'Reilly. (Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)

Even before the puck was dropped for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden, it was a historic Wednesday night in Boston.

The city had not played host to a Game 7 in any major professional sport since the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA title exactly 30 years ago to the day.
The Bruins brought the series back to Boston after surging past the St. Louis Blues for a 5-1 win Sunday and were 60 minutes away from joining the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots as reigning champions in their respective sports. However, the dream ending just wasn’t meant to be for what was statistically the best team standing in the National Hockey League through each of the final three playoff rounds.