Schenn scores in OT, Blues defeat Canucks for 3rd straight win

VANCOUVER -- Brayden Schenn scored 1:54 into overtime for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.

Schenn took a pass from Nick Leddy and shot past the glove of goalie Casey DeSmith from the slot. 

"Disappointing we weren't able to get out with a regulation win, but I thought the overtime, it was good to see Schenn get another goal,” St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said. “He's been playing really well for us of late.”

Vancouver extended its point streak to 10 games (8-0-2). 

“We kept pushing there, and we never gave up and I think that shows a lot about our group and our character,” Canucks forward Brock Boeser said. 

Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist, Robert Thomas had two assists and Joel Hofer made 29 saves for the Blues (24-20-2), who have won three straight games and defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Tuesday. 

“We're playing good hockey right now for the most part, and we're building our game, and you can see we're really starting to come together as a team and play for each other and support each other,” Neighbours said. “It's really fun to see, and it's fun to be a part of and just got to kind of keep her going.”

Pius Suter had a hat trick, and Boeser and Quinn Hughes each had two assists for the Canucks (32-11-5), who have not lost in regulation since Jan. 4 (2-1 vs St. Louis). DeSmith made 14 saves. 

“Happy to rally back from being down two goals twice,” said Suter, who was moved up to the top line with J.T. Miller and Boeser. “Obviously couldn't finish, kind of disappointing, but we do love offensive shifts, create a lot of chances and so, makes it fun and just kind of try and keep it going up there.”

Neighbours made it 1-0 at 13:14 of the first, one-timing a pass by Thomas from behind the net just after coming off the bench. 

“That's a team-first change, changing in the [offensive] zone and setting up the guys behind, so clutch, and I kind of just popped into the slot and ‘Tommer’ found me, so all I had to do was get her on net,” Neighbours said.

Pavel Buchnevich made it 2-0 at 14:57 when he tapped in a cross-crease pass from Neighbours on a 2-on-1 19 seconds into a power play. 

“It was kind of a set play,” Neighbours said. “I knew the puck was coming to me and then it's just my job to try and find an option, and I was going to take it to the net, but he was wide open back door, so just had to put it on his tape.”

Suter cut it to 2-1 one minute into the third period, backhanding a rebound past Hofer at the right side of the net. 

Alexey Toropchenko restored the two-goal lead 3-1 41 seconds later at 1:41 with a deflection of a Kevin Hayes pass from the top of the crease. 

“It's a heck of a win from our guys,” Bannister said. “We showed a lot of character.”

Suter scored a power-play goal at 5:42 to make it 3-2 after Hofer misplayed a puck to the right of the crease. 

“You're on a line that supposed to score,” Suter said. “At the end, you're just trying to play your game, win those 50/50 battles, be at the net and sometimes, they go in like today and then other times, you hit the post or something.”

Suter completed the hat trick at 19:08 when he chipped a rebound over Hofer while playing 6-on-5 to tie it 3-3.  

NOTES: Suter matched the franchise record for most goals in a period (three), last achieved by Andrei Kuzmenko on Nov. 3, 2022. … Hughes has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a five-game point streak and required the eighth-fewest games (331) among defensemen in NHL history to reach the 300-point mark behind Bobby Orr (279), Cale Makar (280), Paul Coffey (294), Brian Leetch (295), Denis Potvin (308), Ray Bourque (316) and Gary Suter (319). … St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk was held out of the game for maintenance after playing 20:05 in Calgary on Tuesday. Scott Perunovich played 15:13 in his place on the third pair.