Bruins

Morning sports update: Here’s what Torey Krug had to say about his helmet-less hit on Robert Thomas

"I'm just glad I got a haircut a few days ago."

Torey Krug goes airborne as he lays out the Blues center Robert Thomas in the third period of Monday's game. Jim Davis / The Boston Globe

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa

One down; three to go.

The Bruins capped off the Memorial Day weekend with a Game 1 win Monday night over the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. Despite falling to an early 2-0 deficit, Boston shook off the rust to score four unanswered goals through the last 39 minutes of the game — slicing through the Blues defense like it was a St. Louis-style bagel.

Watch the full highlights here. Game 2 is Wednesday at 8 p.m at TD Garden (and will be televised on NBC Sports Network).

Meanwhile, the Red Sox also rallied for a comfortable 12-5 win Monday at Fenway Park against the Cleveland Indians, thanks in part to two home runs from J.D. Martinez. Catch up on that game’s highlights here.

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But back to the Bruins…

Torey Krug and fellow Bruins teammates address that ‘goosebumps’-inducing hit

For all the goals during Monday night’s game, the most memorable moment may have been Torey Krug’s flying, helmet-less check on Blues center Robert Thomas. The rousing third-period hit came less than five minutes after the Bruins had taken a 3-2 lead. And by the crowd’s reaction, one might have thought they had scored another goal.

The check was deemed clean by the game’s officials — even though Krug did go completely airborne after hitting Thomas. The image immediately drew countless comparisons to another iconic Boston sports moment from the last Bruins-Blues Stanley Cup Final.

After the game, Krug told reporters that he “wasn’t too happy” about getting his helmet ripped off by Blues winger David Perron and was just trying to make a “hockey hit.”

“It turned out to be a good one,” he said. “Hopefully it gave the guys a boost on the bench and the crowd obviously liked it.”

His teammates largely agreed.

“That gave me some goosebumps,” Bruins center David Backes said, concurring that the hit was a “big boost.”

“I don’t know what kind of Twister game they were playing in front of our net, but no bucket,” Backes said. “I was hoping he would change — he doesn’t have his helmet on — but goes right up the ice and lays a big hit.  I don’t know, he thinks he’s playing 30, 40 years ago, but that was an exchange that I think was Torey Krug establishing himself in this series.”

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“You don’t want to mess with that guy,” Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton told reporters. “Don’t make that guy mad.”

Krug said his head never hit the ice during the chaotic play, but acknowledged those close to him may have been worried. Beginning next season, the NHL will penalize players who don’t immediately go to the bench after losing their helmet.

“I’m sure that my coach and my GM were just hoping that I’d get off the ice at that point, but that’s hockey,” Krug said Monday, noting that his pregnant wife may have also been “concerned.”

The 28-year-old said he didn’t know how he would remember the play.

“I’m just glad I got a haircut a few days ago,” he joked.

More from Boston.com

‘Bill Buckner never should have been defined by one play’:

Following the news of Bill Buckner’s death Monday afternoon, The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy reflected on how the former Red Sox first baseman was so much more than the play mentioned in the first sentence of his obituary — and how the Boston sports fandom has changed in the 33 years since that World Series error:

Bill Buckner had more big league hits than either Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams. He was an All-Star and won a batting title. Playing on ankles that had to be iced almost round the clock, he knocked in 102 runs for the pennant-winning Red Sox in 1986.

He played 22 seasons in the majors and twice made it to the World Series. He was a good teammate and a solid family man. He aged better than most retired athletes and always looked like he could still give you a couple of innings when he’d return to Fenway Park tanned and fit.

But for the final 33 years of his life, Buckner was best known as the guy who missed the ground ball. For many fans and media members, it defined him. And it was unfair.

Read the full piece over at the Globe.

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Trivia: Buckner returned to Fenway Park in 2008 to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in a tearful moment before the Red Sox home opener, following their 2007 World Series championship. Who caught it?

Hint: He was Buckner’s former teammate.

What’s next for Dustin Pedroia?

Following yet another setback in his knee rehab, the Red Sox placed Pedroia on the 60-day injured list Monday — and it’s becoming increasingly unclear if the former AL MVP will play again in MLB. The 35-year-old himself says he’s “not sure.”

“I’ve tried so many things — from braces to orthotics to rehab methods to seeing different doctors to every type of treatment possible,” he told the Globe. “So I’m at a point right now where I need some time.”

ICYMI: Chad Finn wrote for Boston.com that Pedroia has earned the right to leave on own terms.

Watch: Lil Nas X fired up Bruins fans with his hit “Old Town Road” before the game Monday at City Hall Plaza…

…and after the game, Boston returned the favor:

Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson had an eventful major-league debut this weekend

The good news is that Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of Red Sox Hall of Hamer Carl Yastrzemski, got his first major-league hit on Sunday.

The bad news is that he took a perhaps overzealous turn at first base and immediately got picked off — to the hilarious dismay of his wife.

Fortunately, the 28-year-old redeemed himself three innings later with another single (in which he safely stayed at first).

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‘It was like being in a car crash’: Wayne Rooney feeling sore after getting smashed by Revs goalie

New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner received a red card for this somewhat inexplicable tackle on Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United and English national team star, during the team’s 1-1 tie Saturday against D.C. United. Asked after the game what hurt, Rooney said, “A bit of everything.”

“Chest, shoulder, a bit of me face,” he said. “I’m sure he meant no harm in it. He just misjudged it.”

On this day: After going hitless in his first three games, rookie New York Giants center field Willie Mays hit the first home run of his MLB career off Boston Braves pitcher Warren Spahn in 1951. Mays “smashed a Spahn fast ball over the whole works in left which was a genuine a homer as they come,” the Globe reported at the time.

The future Hall of Famer would go on to hit 660 home runs, 18 of which came off Spahn — which was the most he hit off any single pitcher.

Daily highlight: Torey Krug wasn’t the only athlete in Boston laying out Monday:

Trivia answer: Dwight Evans