3 Keys: Blues vs. Canucks, Game 6 of Western First Round

No. 4 Blues vs. No. 5 Canucks

9:45 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, FS-MW

Vancouver leads best-of-7 series, 3-2

Jordan Binnington could be back in the St. Louis Blues net when they try to avoid being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday.

Blues coach Craig Berube said Thursday that he hadn't decided yet if he will go with Jake Allen, who started the past three games and allowed four goals on 30 shots in a 4-3 loss in Game 5 on Wednesday in Edmonton, the West hub city, or Binnington, who helped the Blues win their first Stanley Cup championship last season but has a 4.27 goals-against average and an .862 save percentage in four starts this postseason.

Binnington started Games 1 and 2 and allowed nine goals on 47 shots in losing both.

"We have faith in both of our goalies," Berube said.

The Canucks are expected to start goalie Jacob Markstrom, who made 36 saves in Game 5, including 18 straight to close the game. He has a 2.65 GAA and a .927 save percentage in the series.

"When [Markstrom] is playing like that, it fires up the bench for sure," Canucks defenseman Jordie Benn said. "It's the same as when guys make a big block shot. When [Markstrom] is doing those things it's, it's pretty incredible to see that a human being can make saves like that."

Teams that win Game 5 to take the lead are 211-58 (78.4 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.

Here are 3 keys to Game 5:

1. What if it's Binnington in net?

Nothing changes for the Blues if Binnington gets the start. They still must forecheck to keep the Canucks from getting to their speed game. They need to play faster than the Canucks. They still must grind and win board battles.

But if Binnington starts, will the Blues get an extra jump knowing the goalie who helped them win the Cup last season is back behind them again?

2. Canucks' speed

The Canucks punched back at the Blues in Game 5 with their speed through the neutral zone in the second period. It led to some waves of attack, a strong presence around the net and three goals in a span of 6:23 in the second half of the period.

They stayed aggressive in the third period, got some big saves from Markstrom and locked down a one-goal lead for the 4-3 win.

It's hard for the Canucks to skate and pressure that way for 60 minutes against the Blues, who thrive on their forecheck and creating turnovers, but short bursts of aggressiveness and speed like they had in the second can yield big results.

3. O'Reilly's line

The Canucks did a better job at 5-on-5 against Blues center Ryan O'Reilly and his linemates, Jaden Schwartz and David Perron, in Game 5 than they had done through the first four games.

Perron was plus-2, O'Reilly plus-1 and Schwartz minus-1 in 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game 5. It was a massive difference from the first four games, when O'Reilly was plus-59, Perron was plus-58 and Schwartz was plus-44.

Doing it again will be difficult, but it could very well be the key factor in either Vancouver ending the series or St. Louis extending it to Game 7.

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron

Oskar Sundqvist -- Brayden Schenn -- Tyler Bozak

Zach Sanford -- Robert Thomas -- Sammy Blais

Ivan Barbashev -- Jacob de la Rose -- Jordan Kyrou

Justin Faulk -- Alex Pietrangelo

Marco Scandella -- Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Scratched: Troy Brouwer, Ville Husso, Mackenzie MacEachern , Klim Kostin, Austin Poganski, Niko Mikkola, Derrick Pouliot, Jake Walman

Unfit to play: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Carl Gunnarsson

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake Virtanen

Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser

Antoine Roussel -- Adam Gaudette -- Brandon Sutter

Tyler Motte -- Jay Beagle -- Loui Eriksson

Alexander Edler -- Troy Stecher

Quinn Hughes -- Chris Tanev

Oscar Fantenberg -- Jordie Benn

Jacob Markstrom

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Olli Juolevi, Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, Louis Domingue, Tyler Graovac, Brogan Rafferty

Unfit to play: Micheal Ferland, Josh Leivo, Tyler Toffoli, Tyler Myers

Status report

Edler left Game 5 late in the second period after getting cut on the side of the head by Kyrou's skate blade. Green said he's hopeful Edler will be able to play Friday. … Gunnarsson missed Game 5 because he was unfit to play, Berube said. There was no update on the defenseman's status for Game 6. … Berube said it's unlikely Steen will be ready to play Game 6. The forward has missed the past three games and four of the five in the series.

NHL.com staff writer Jon Lane contributed to this report