*Photo from TSN*
The playoff hopes of the Vancouver Canucks are ever so fading away. Ryan O'Reilly scored, Nathan Walker added the game winner, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Canucks with a 4-3 win on Wednesday night in Vancouver.
The win marks the second time in all of March that the Blues have won consecutive games, as they jump back into 3rd place in the Central Division. It's a home and home sweep of the Canucks for the Blues, who also secured a season series sweep of the Canucks.
Blues forward David Perron said of O'Reilly scoring and the win that "It was all around good game for us and something to build on for sure. That's why we were all so excited. We were doing our pre-scout before the game and it came up at the bottom of the screen and he was like 'Is that for real? Did I not score against the Vancouver Canucks yet?' So, that was funny and he got his first one."
After a scoreless first period, Alex Chiasson scored just 31 seconds into the second period, opening a 1-0 lead for the Canucks. 7:26 into the second, Nick Leddy scored his first goal with the Blues and his second of the season to tie the game 1-1. Elias Pettersson scored to put the Canucks ahead 2-1, before Robert Thomas scored shorthanded for the Blues to make it 2-2. O'Reilly scored before the second ended to give the Blues a 3-2 lead.
In the 3rd period, Walker scored the game winning goal 9:29 into the period to make it 4-2 Blues, his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Mackenzie MacEachern and Justin Faulk. Pettersson scored at the 15:11 mark for the Canucks to cut the deficit back to one on his 22nd goal of the season and second of the night, but the Canucks couldn't manage any more.
Perron said that "It was a good game all around. I don’t know how they feel over there, but they took it to us pretty good. I also thought that we played more our game, the way we want to play to be successful, and it felt at times it was four lines just going one after another, doing it right, and it was awesome."
It was Ville Husso who got the start in net for the Blues, and he did enough to bring home the win. Husso stopped 22 out of the 25 shots that Vancouver mustered, posting a .880 save percentage to get the win. Husso's record bumped up to 17-6-4 on the season, totaling 28 starts.
After Jaroslav Halak got the loss on Monday, Thatcher Demko was in net for this one, and he also got the loss. Demko stopped 20 of the 24 Blues shots on goal, recording a .833 save percentage in a tough loss. Demko's record on the season dropped to 28-19-5 in 52 starts for the Canucks.
Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn said of trying to make the playoffs that "It looks like a lot and a big task when you look at the big picture. But you focus on the next game. Vegas is obviously a team that’s right ahead of us and that’s a huge game, obviously, coming on Sunday. Really all you can do is take it one at a time."
Up next, the Blues take on the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton on Friday night, with Husso likely to start. Demko will start for the Canucks on Sunday when they play against the Vegas Golden Knights in Vegas.
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