/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63998572/1155563850.jpg.0.jpg)
When Ryan O’Reilly came to St. Louis from the Buffalo Sabres, the first thing he told Doug Armstrong was “let’s go win a Cup.” He made good on that suggestion tonight, with the Blues taking game seven from the Boston Bruins 4-1. O’Reilly scored in the last four games, and he finished the playoffs with 9 goals and 16 assists, and the lead in points.
During the Dallas and San Jose series, his play looked a little rusty at times. He didn’t score a goal against the Stars, and only had one goal and one assist against the Sharks until game six, where he added three assists to his point total. His face-off percentage could’ve been better as well, often coming in beneath 50%.
Some Blues fans wondered what injury O’Reilly had, and would it be revealed after the playoffs concluded. We got our answer tonight, and it explains a lot: a cracked rib.
Ryan O'Reilly reveals he's been playing with a cracked rib since the second round. pic.twitter.com/nAmmPHgGZt
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 13, 2019
“Against Dallas, I kind of cracked a rib.”
As the playoffs progressed, the rib healed up and O’Reilly’s face off win percentage and goal scoring returned more to a regular-season level.
If he played that well against the Bruins with a cracked rib, lifting the Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup probably didn’t feel like anything at all.