Blues meet Canucks before holiday break

The Blues meet the Vancouver Canucks in their final game before a three-day holiday break on Saturday night at 9 p.m. CT at Rogers Arena.
Fans can follow the action live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO or KMOX 1120 AM.

BLUES Tage Thompson scored his first career NHL goal and Patrik Berglund followed it up soon after, but the Blues dropped a 3-2 decision in Edmonton after the Oilers scored the go-ahead goal with 49.8 seconds left in regulation.
The loss was the Blues' third straight.
"We played I'd say probably 56 good minutes of hockey tonight, and then it seemed like we got the lead and obviously their team is going to press and we got caught in between," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said. "We weren't back, we weren't defending, and we weren't up creating the turnovers. It's a bad place to be."
Despite the loss, the Blues still remain tied for first in the Central Division with the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators.

CANUCKS Kevin Labanc of the San Jose Sharks shattered the Canucks' hopes of a victory on Thursday night. Labanc scored 1:53 into overtime to hand Vancouver its seventh lost in the last eight games (1-6-1).
"A point is big, but we definitely feel we could've won that game," Canucks forward Brock Boeser said. "Obviously we need to clean up some special teams there."
With a 15-16-5 record (35 points), Vancouver is second-to-last in the Western Conference standings.
THE MATCHUP The Blues won the only matchup between the teams so far this season, beating the Canucks 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 18 thanks to a game-winner from Brayden Schenn. The Blues have won three straight againts the Canucks and have earned points in their last seven games against Vancouver (6-0-1).
The Blues have points in five straight trips to Rogers Arena (3-0-2).

HOT VS. VANCOUVER

• Paul Stastny has 12 points in his last nine games against the Canucks (two goals, 10 assists).
  - Vladimir Tarasenko has nine points in his last nine games vs. Vancouver (three goals, six assists).
  - Kyle Brodziak has a goal in four of his last seven games against the Canucks.
  - Jake Allen is 4-0-2 with a .898 save-percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average in his last six starts against Vancouver.
  - Carter Hutton is 1-1-0 with a .955 save-percentage and a 1.32 goals-against average in three career appearances against the Canucks.

BLUE NOTES

• Alexander Steen came the 12th player in franchise history to play in 600 games with the Blues on Thursday night in Edmonton.
  - The Blues have killed 34 of 36 penalties in December, which ranks first in the NHL for the month at 94.4 percent.
  - Tage Thompson became the third Blue this season to score his first career NHL goal (Sammy Blais and Vince Dunn).
  - Brayden Schenn is one of 10 players to reach the 40-point mark this season.
  - Alex Pietrangelo has 16 points on the road this season (three goals, 13 assists), which ranks first among all NHL defensemen.