Blues streak to seventh win in eight games under Yeo
ST. LOUIS -- Vladimir Tarasenko scored a power-play goal 58 seconds into the third period to break a 2-2 tie and send the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night for their season-high sixth consecutive victory.
The win raised the Blues' record to 7-1 since Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. It's the best record for a St. Louis coach in his first eight games in franchise history.
Tarasenko's goal, his 27th of the season, came with eight seconds left in a high-sticking penalty to the Canucks' Alexandre Burrows that carried over from the end of the second period.
Just 1:16 later, the Canucks' Henrik Sedin was assessed a double minor penalty for high-sticking and the Blues capitalized with a goal by Alexander Steen to increase the lead to 4-2. The Blues had scored only one power play goal in their previous six games.
Kevin Shattenkirk assisted on both of the power play goals and had three assists on the night.
The Canucks cut the lead to 4-3 at 6:49 of the third period on Brandon Sutter's 15th goal of the season as he redirected a shot by Alexander Edler.
For the second consecutive game, the Blues scored on their first shot. A centering pass by Magnus Paajarvi banked off the leg of goalie Jacob Markstrom into the net at 4:30 of the first period.
The Canucks tied the score midway through the period after a turnover by Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester led to a goal by Bo Horvat.
Jori Lehtera put the Blues back in front at 17:17 of the first period with his first goal since Jan. 14, which came off a rebound. The Canucks challenged that the play was offside, but a video review confirmed the call on the ice.
Henrik Sedin scored the only goal of the second period at 8:27 to once again pull the Canucks into a tie going into the third period.
NOTES: The Canucks welcomed C Bo Horvat and C Brandon Sutter back to the lineup after each missed Tuesday night's game. Horvat had an injured foot and Sutter an injured wrist. ... RW Nail Yakupov took the place of LW Scottie Upshall in the Blues' lineup. D Robert Bortuzzo also was inserted into the lineup in place of D Carl Gunnarsson. The latter two have alternated the last five games. ... The Blues, who went 5-0 on their recent road trip, will be right back on the road, playing Saturday in Buffalo. ... C Paul Stastny could return to the St. Louis lineup for that game after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... The Canucks are headed home after a six-game road trip, hosting the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.