Garland Scores Two Goals, Canucks Earn Two Points in St. Louis

There were a number of milestones and records written as the Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at Enterprise Center.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet said the team was ready from puck drop and was pleased with the way they set the tone early.

“A good start, obviously the power play was good getting that goal for us. I thought we started on time, so the first period obviously set us up for the game. It was a nice win for us,” Tocchet said.

Quinn Hughes finished the game with two assists, the blue liner becoming the first Canucks defenceman to record 100 career multi-point games. Hughes said it was important to get back-to-back wins.

“It was good, I thought we played good defence in the third and we were ready to go in the first so, lots to like about tonight,” Hughes said.

One of Hughes’ assists came on Conor Garland’s goal, and he was happy for Garland to see the fruits of his labour result in goals.

“He brings a lot of compete and no matter if he’s on the score sheet or not, you’re going to feel his impact,” Hughes said.

Coming off an incredible performance against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, Kevin Lankinen continued his stellar play against the Blues making sprawling saves stopping 24 of 26 shots on net. He also notched his first point as a Canuck, getting the second assist on J.T. Miller’s goal.

Lankinen’s record with Vancouver is 18-8-6, and with the win on Monday, he set a new career-high with 18 wins on the season.

Phil Di Giuseppe celebrated his 300th NHL game with three hits in 11:42 of ice time.

Tyler Myers was back in the lineup after missing three games due to a suspension. Tocchet said they really felt his presence when he wasn’t able to play, and he made an impact in his first game back.

“I thought Mysey was one of the best players on the ice. I thought we was terrific tonight for us. When he’s out, you really miss a guy like that. His breakouts were great, I thought he was excellent. In those three games he was off, he worked really hard, so he didn’t miss a beat, I’m really proud of Mysey,” Tocchet said.

Goals

Garland went on a scoring spree in the first period, burying a two-on-one pass from Hughes net front.

His second goal came on the power play, Brock Boeser’s shot was stopped by Jordan Binnington, but the puck came loose under Binnington’s pads and Garland was there to jam the biscuit to the back of the net, putting the Canucks up 2-0 going into the first intermission.

In the second period, the Canucks found themselves on the power play, and taking advantage of a Blues’ change, Hughes made a pass from Vancouver’s end to Miller who turned and fired, beating Binnington stick side.

Miller felt the team took control in the first period and played with confidence the rest of the way. The game was a step in the direction of the Canucks hoping to string some wins together.

“It's a big game for a lot of reasons. We're trying to put multiple good games back-to-back for us as a group and this is a road trip where we can come together and maybe separate ourselves from some of the teams and gain some ground, so it felt good,” Miller said.

St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway got the Blues on the board, scoring a power play goal.

With the Canucks on the penalty kill, Tyler Myers picked Holloway’s pocket, leading Pius Suter with a pass through the neutral zone on a breakaway. Suter fired a shot with so much juice it hit Joel Hofer, who replaced Binnington in the second period, and sailed past him into the net.

Vancouver took a 4-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes.

In the third, Blues’ defenceman Colton Parayko scored to bring St. Louis within two goals.

In the last two minutes, St. Louis had six skaters on the ice when Myers recovered the puck on defence and fired a 150-foot shot into the yawning cage from the right faceoff circle, sealing a 5-2 win.

When Hughes was asked by Canucks’ Rinkside Reporter Olivia McDonald how important it is to have Myers back in the lineup, there was no hesitation in Hughes’ response.

“Massive. His game, you can see how he breaks out the pucks, [and] penalty kill, [is] just solid, defends hard, but obviously his leadership as well,” Hughes said.

Up Next

The Canucks head to Nashville, taking on the Predators on Wednesday, January 29th at 6 p.m. PT.