Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist and the visiting St. Louis Blues further dimmed the Canucks faint playoff hopes, beating Vancouver 4-3 on Wednesday.
Nick Leddy, Robert Thomas and Nathan Walker also scored for the Blues (37-20-9). David Perron added two assists.
Elias Pettersson scored twice for the Canucks (32-28-9), who were playing their fifth game in eight nights. Alex Chiasson also had a goal for the home side.
A 22-save performance earned St. Louis goalie Ville Husso his 18th win of the season. Thatcher Demko stopped 20-of-24 shots for Vancouver.
The Blues also beat the Canucks on Monday, and swept the three-game season series.
With 12 games to go in the regular season, Vancouver sits 10 points behind St. Louis, which holds the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Dancers from the Coastal Wolf Pack and @atribecalledred put on a performance for the fans at tonight's First Nations Night celebration. pic.twitter.com/RRyqGQXxmi
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) March 31, 2022
Pettersson got the Canucks back within to a goal with less than five minutes on the game clock, snapping a shot past Husso from in tight for his second of the night.
Vancouver pressed for the equalizer, but couldn’t get a shot past Husso.
The goalie made one of his biggest stops of the night with 70 seconds remaining, robbing Tanner Pearson with a glove save.
A blocked shot turned into a goal for the Blues midway through the third.
Canucks defenceman Travis Dermott went down to stop a shot from Mackenzie MacEachern but the puck bounced off him to Walker, who sent it soaring into the Vancouver net to make it 4-2.
St. Louis took a lead into the final frame thanks to O’Reilly’s power-play goal.
Vancouver rookie Vasily Podkolzin was called for holding after he hauled down Brandon Saad on the rush and the Blues made the Canucks pay.
Perrson sent the puck to Brayden Schenn below the goal line and Schenn instantly dished it to O’Reilly at the hash marks. O’Reilly one-timed a shot past Demko for his15th goal of the campaign 17:16 into the second.
The Blues’ short-handed goal tied it 2-2 earlier in the period.
Thomas beat Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes for a breakaway and put a shot past Demko glove side.
The Blues went 1-for-1 on the power play and the Canucks were scoreless on their lone man advantage.
Pettersson gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead midway through the second with a beautiful goal from the top of the slot. The Swedish centre intercepted a pass near the blue line, took a couple of strides, then released a rocket for his 21st of the season.
Nic Petan registered an assist on the play, notching his first point for the Canucks.
The Blues got on the board 7:26 into the second when Leddy sent a long bomb under Demko’s glove for his second of the season, tying the game at 1-1.
Vancouver took the lead just 31 seconds into the middle frame. Brad Richardson sent Chiasson a blind back-handed pass and the winger swiped in a shot from the top of the crease for his seventh goal of the season.
Richardson notched an assist on the play, marking his first point since being claimed off waivers from the Calgary Flames on March 21.
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Some stellar saves by Demko kept the game goalless through the first.
His best of the period came at the 10:20 mark when the all-star goalie made a diving glove save to deny Vladimir Tarasenko from the side of the net.
The Blues continue their Canadian swing Friday when they take on the Oilers in Edmonton. The Canucks will host the Golden Knights on Sunday.
NOTES: Canucks captain Bo Horvat left the game after the first period and did not return. The team later said his absence was due to a non-COVID-related illness. … St. Louis was without leading scorer Jordan Kyrou, who was a late scratch due to an unspecified illness. … The Canucks marked their fourth annual First Nations night with special warmup jerseys designed by Musqueam artist Chase Gray and a ceremonial puck drop.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
