Blues edge Canucks for sixth straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen scored power-play goals in the third period to help the St. Louis Blues get their sixth straight win, 4-3 against the Vancouver Canucks at Scottrade Center on Thursday.
"We came out in the game and we were a little sloppy, to be honest, in the first and second," said Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who had three assists. "Once we got back in between the second and third, we really just told ourselves we needed to create momentum more than anything. That's important when you're starting a period on the power play."

Magnus Paajarvi and Jori Lehtera also scored for the Blues (31-22-5). Jake Allen made 18 saves and St. Louis improved to 7-1-0 since coach Mike Yeo took over for Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1.
WATCH: All Canucks vs. Blues highlights
"I think, as coaches, we were a little bit nervous about this game coming back off a five-game road trip," Yeo said. "It's always a challenge in itself, but then you're faced with the fact that you played the night before, with travel, and you're playing against a team that's sitting here waiting for you.
"We were expecting a playoff game from them, a playoff mentality. They're fighting for their lives right now. We knew it was going to be a challenge with that. ... What really impressed me was our response in the third period."
The Blues moved five points ahead of the Nashville Predators for third place in the Central Division.
Bo Horvat, Henrik Sedin and Brandon Sutter scored for the Canucks (25-27-6), who ended a six-game road trip 2-4-0. Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves.
"The players on this team played an unreal road game and I was awful," Markstrom said. "Bad luck or good luck or whatever, it just can't happen. We can't afford that right now. We played a great game, scored three goals, and coming into the third … two quick goals like that, that can't happen. It was awful today."

Tarasenko's 27th of the season 58 seconds into the third period made it 3-2, and Steen scored at 5:00 to give the Blues a 4-2 lead.
Sutter got the Canucks within one when he redirected Alexander Edler's point shot from the slot at 6:49 to make it 4-3.
The Blues scored the first goal of the game for the sixth straight time when Paajarvi got his third in the past eight games at 4:30 of the first period.
Horvat tied it after intercepting a pass by Jay Bouwmeester at 10:15, but the Blues went ahead 2-1 at 17:17 on Lehtera's sixth goal. The Canucks challenged for offside but the goal was upheld after video review.
Henrik Sedin scored at 8:27 of the second period off a feed from Daniel Sedin in the slot to tie it 2-2.

Goal of the game

Steen looked off Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin and got Markstrom to cheat slightly off the post, and that opened up enough daylight for him to spin and shoot. "Make it look like you're going on the back side and hopefully he bites a little bit and gives you a little room," Steen said.

Save of the game

Markstrom made a glove save on Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz at 12:04 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Tarasenko's goal came after he and Lehtera played one-touch passes along the right side, then Lehtera set the perfect screen in front of Markstrom so Tarasenko could take a wrist shot from the right circle with an open side.

Unsung performance of the game

One night after Lehtera lost 11 of 12 faceoffs against the Detroit Red Wings, he won 15 of 20 draws against the Canucks.

They said it

"I like our attitude and our vibe." -- Blues left wing Alexander Steen
"I thought that was a tough game for St Louis coming back. I thought they battled hard. I thought they capitalized on their chances. That four-minute power play made a difference. Outside of that, I liked our chance [to win]."-- Canucks coach Willie Desjardins
"We were tired. There's no question. A long road trip. We've been battling hard, we've been finding ways to win games." -- Blues goalie Jake Allen

Need to know

Nail Yakupov replaced Scottie Upshall and Robert Bortuzzo replaced Carl Gunnarsson for the Blues. ... Both Horvat (knee) and Sutter (wrist) returned after missing one game.

What's next

Canucks: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, NHL.TV)
Blues: At the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-MW, NHL.TV)