Bruins Beat Blues, 10-2, in Playoffs; Bucyk Three Goals, Westfall Two

Veteran Johnny Bucyk scored three goals and Eddie Westfall contributed a pair as the high-powered Boston Bruins mauled the St. Louis Blues 10-2 Thursday night for a 2-0 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff semifinals.

The 36-year-old Bucyk scored the first goal on a power play in the opening period, collected his second while the Bruins had a man advantage again in the third period and then tallied Boston's ninth goal for the second playoff hat trick of his career.

The Bruins fell just one goal short of the playoff record for most goals in a game set by the Montreal Canadians in 1944.

The Blues, beaten 6-1 by the Bruins in the best-of-seven National Hockey League series opener, outshot Boston 33-31. However, the Bruins completely dominated the action and were much better marksmen.

Other Boston scores Phil Esposito, Ace Bailey, John McKenzie, Mike Walton and Don Marcotte.

The Bruins scored three goals in the first period, two in the second and then hiked the count to 6-0 before the Blues broke into the scoring column. Mike Murphy banged in his own rebound to spoil goalie Gerry Cheever's shutout bid at 4:37 of the finale. Less than a minute later, Phil Roberto stole a Carol Vadnais pass and scored the other St. Louis goal.

The Bruins made the game a complete runaway with four goals in the final 9 1/2 minutes. Three of Boston's first six goals came on the power play. The Bruins didn't play any favorites. They scored four goals against goalie Jacques Caron in the first 29 minutes and then beat Ernie Wakely for six more tallies.

The Blues now have lost 14 consecutive playoff games to pre-expansion teams in the NHL. St. Louis has been outscored in the stretch 59-20. The two teams move on to St. Louis for the third and fourth games Sunday and Tuesday.