Flashback a year ago, and many puck prognosticators pitched a Boston-St. Louis Stanley Cup Final.

The Blues exited that scene quicker than the Bruins with a first-round loss to the then defending-champion Blackhawks. The Bruins hung in two weeks longer before being shown the door at the hands of, well, you-know-who.

Ask that same prediction before the current season began, and there was again support for a Bruins-Blues Final. At this juncture of current campaign, conversations about that might go like this: “The Blues look like a bonafide June team. But Boston, well…”

With the best goals-against average in the NHL at 1.88, a 9-1 record in their last 10 games, and a 4-1-1 road slate, the Blues came to TD Garden Tuesday night for a chance to show off one very balanced attack under veteran coach Ken Hitchcock.

“This is a good test for us,” Claude Julien said Tuesday morning.

One that needed to be decided in regulation.

Nine of the last 14 games between these two teams had gone to OT or shootout and the Blues prevailed in all nine. The Bruins had not defeated them in OT since March 1993.

Pick the one factor in this one that would likely make the most impact on any final score — and it’s in the 24-square-feet department. At one end, the reigning Vezina recipient Tuukka Rask. At the other, a likely Vezina finalist come spring in Brian Elliott, sporting a 1.87 GAA.

Elliott might not be a local household name, but he is well known to many NCAA followers. He was in net for the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in the 2006 title game against Boston College with Corey Schneider between the Eagles’ pipes. They battled at 1-1 into the third period before the Badgers won, 2-1.

(Not to be overlooked — also with regard to local college lore — is former Boston University standout Kevin Shattenkirk who has a home on the Blues’ blue line. Shattenkirk was a horse for Jack Parker’s 2009 title team that took down Miami on OT, 4-3, after being down, 3-1, with a minute to play. This was his 300th NHL game. )

NCAA digressions aside, back to Julien’s reference to “a good test.”

The Blues entered the game with the second-best power play in the league. The Bruins entered the game with David Krejci back in the lineup. But even as it appeared they got a tad bit healthier, Brad Marchand missed Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury.

So, in the first period, Patrice Bergeron – with Matt Fraser replacing Marchand on the first line — puts the Bruins up, 1-0, at 5:45, off a Fraser forecheck.

“It’s a big win against a team that doesn’t give you much,” Bergeron said.

“A great job by [Matt] from the first shift out. He was great on the forecheck.”

“[Matt] played big, he played strong and against their top line,” Julien said postgame. “With Bergy and [Reilly] Smith that line did a great job.”

The Bruins also killed off two key first-period penalties, while Rask prevailed over Elliot.

Torey Krug’s third tally of the season, a seeing-eye 20-foot wrister from the top of the left face-off circle, put Boston up, 2-0, at 11:31 of the second.

It was nearly 3-0, but Matt Fraser’s goal off his chest in a crease scrum with Elliot was disallowed for goalie interference with nine ticks remaining.

“It should have been a goal in my mind,” Julien said after. “Unfortunately, those are not reviewable.”

A solid two-way effort by Boston in the final frame was accentuated by Rask’s 33 saves for his first shutout of the season, while his teammates won most of the one-on-one battles around him.

“As far as the net front goes, we were really good,” Rask assessed.

Related: Rask, Bruins, get statement win

The last shutout over the Blues was way back in March 1990 by Reggie Lemelin.

“Whenever we didn’t turn the puck over in the neutral zone,” Rask said, “we didn’t really give them anything.”

Like Saturday’s 2-1 win over Carolina, Tuukka was again the game’s No. 1 star.

“I think [Tuukka] deserves a lot of credit,” Julien said about his stellar pipe dweller. “He was outstanding for us tonight.”

It may well be the Bruin’s’ best 60-minute game of the season thus far – and against one of the league’s elite thus far.

“Absolutely [a good 60-minute game.],” Rask said. “We started off hard; first period was probably the best one.”

“Our guys played well tonight against a team that’s been extremely hot and good as you can see,” Julien commented. “I liked our overall effort.”

Did someone say: “Bruins-Blues in June?