Blues hold off Canucks, retake third in Central

VANCOUVER -- Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.

David Perron had two assists, and Ville Husso made 22 saves for the Blues (37-20-9), who defeated the Canucks 4-1 in St. Louis on Monday. It was the second time in March the Blues have won consecutive games and moved them into third place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Nashville Predators and three points behind the Minnesota Wild for second.
"It was all around good game for us and something to build on for sure," Perron said. "We got to put like four or five in a row before we start thinking that we got something going here."

Elias Pettersson scored twice, and Thatcher Demko made 20 saves for the Canucks (32-28-9), who have two wins in their past six games. Vancouver is five points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"It's easy to look at the standings and try to calculate how many points you need but we can't think about 'Oh, we need this amount of games,'" Pettersson said. "We've just got to try to win the next game."
Alex Chiasson scored 31 seconds into the second period to put the Canucks ahead 1-0 after a Brad Richardson pass from behind the net to the top of the crease.
Nick Leddy tied it 1-1 at 7:26 with a point shot that went in under Demko's arm. It was his first goal since being traded to the Blues from the Detroit Red Wings on March 21.
Pettersson put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 12:42, skating onto a loose puck in the high slot after Nic Petan forced a Vladimir Tarasenko turnover, and sending a wrist shot over Husso's glove.
Robert Thomas tied it 2-2 on a shorthanded breakaway at 15:29 after Pettersson lost the puck in the offensive end.
"You're thinking 'If we can get one here, go up 3-1, good things are going to happen,'" said Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau. "And then they come back and tie it up. It sort of was a deflating goal."

Vasily Podkolzin took a holding penalty trying to defend another rush chance as the power play expired, and O'Reilly put St. Louis ahead 3-2 at 17:16 with one-timer from the left hash mark on the ensuing power play after a quick pass from Brayden Schenn below the goal line.
"Big penalty kill and get a shorthanded goal and then the power play goal," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "Special teams are such an important part of every game and they came through tonight."
Blues players collected the puck on O'Reilly's goal because it was his first in 41 games against Vancouver, a fact that surprised the St. Louis captain before the game.
"That's why we were all so excited," Perron said. "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."

Nathan Walker made it 4-2 at 9:29 of the third period after a block shot bounced to him on the other side of the slot.
Pettersson scored at 15:11 to make it 4-3 on a deflection in the slot, but with 1:10 left and Demko pulled for an extra attacker, Husso robbed Tanner Pearson from the slot with his glove.
"We know how important every game is now and we're not going down without a battle," Pettersson said.
NOTES: Vancouver forward Bo Horvat left after the first period because of a non-COVID related illness. "He's got 26 goals, he's your captain, he kills penalties, he plays the power play," Boudreau said. "Five minutes before the game, I'm hearing he's sick but he's going to try it and then you lose him, so all of the sudden you're mixing and matching for the rest of the game, especially with some of the young guys we have in, mixing and matching isn't as easy as it sounds." … Forward Jordan Kyrou, who leads St. Louis with 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists) in 61 games, was a late scratch with an illness but there was no update after the game. … "We'll see how he is tomorrow," Berube said. … St. Louis center Logan Brown played 7:14 after being added late to the lineup because Kyrou couldn't play. … Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo had two hits and a blocked shot in 11:52 after being a healthy scratch against the Canucks on Monday. … Richardson's assist was his first point in five games since being claimed by Vancouver off waivers from the Calgary Flames on March 21. Petan's assist was his first point in nine games with the Canucks this season.