Faulk collects 2 points in a 3-1 win over Canucks

VANCOUVER-- Ville Husso made 38 saves, including 20 in the first period, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 at Rogers Arena on Sunday.

Husso, who was making his third straight start, made his best saves on breakaway attempts by Jason Dickinson in the second and third period.
He is 5-0-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average and .963 save percentage since returning from a lower-body injury on Jan. 7.
"I think Husso was amazing tonight," Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. "When somebody plays well, it always gives teammates positive emotions, but especially when a goalie is making these performances like almost every night."
Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist, and Tarasenko had two assists for the Blues (25-11-5), who have won three in a row and six of their past seven.
"Our goalie was really good tonight and we scored a couple timely goals, and that was the difference in the hockey game," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said.

STL@VAN: Faulk redirects a shot into the back of net

Michael DiPietro
made 14 saves in his first start in almost three years for the Canucks (18-19-4), who were without Thatcher Demko, Jaroslav Halak and Spencer Martin because of NHL COVID-19 protocol. Rylan Toth, who plays for the University of British Columbia,
dressed as an emergency backup goalie
.
"These last couple days obviously have been a whirlwind," DiPietro said. "I'm just trying to stay in the moment as much as I can. It's been a while between starts, but obviously I was a lot more comfortable this time around."
Vancouver is 0-1-1 during its current three-game homestand.
"Right now, we're having a hard time scoring," said Bruce Boudreau, who coached his 1,000th NHL game. "We have a couple of breakaways here and there, a couple of great looks. I'm really happy with the way they worked and the way they cared, just I expect to win every time we go on the ice, so I'm unhappy with that result."
Tanner Pearson put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 16:30 of the first period, finishing a backdoor chance off a deflected puck four seconds after a 5-on-3 power play expired but before either Blues player could get back into the play.
Faulk tied it 1-1 off the rush at 18:33, dropping a pass for Oskar Sundqvist at the blue line and driving to the net for a between-the-legs deflection over DiPietro's shoulder.
"Guys bounced back right away and made a goal, so that was huge for us," Husso said. "And after first it was 1-1, so that was big goal for us. It's hockey. Sometimes they score and then we score right away back, so that was a big goal for us."
Brayden Schenn gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead at 3:26 of the second period with a backdoor tap-in off a cross-ice pass from Tarasenko on the power play.

STL@VAN: Schenn taps in a slick feed for a PPG

Tarasenko has scored 15 points (six goals, nine assists) during a nine-game point streak.
"I always told you guys before, somebody is open it's very simple, just pass the puck to him," Tarasenko said. "It was a big goal for us and happy for him."
Jordan Kyrou made it 3-1 with a long wrist shot through traffic that deflected in off the shaft of DiPietro's stick at 16:43 of the second.
"I thought Mikey played really well," Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes said. "He made a couple big saves in the first, and a couple in the third. I thought he did his job and made the saves when we needed to. We've just got to find a way to put it in the net."
NOTES: Schenn has scored six points (four goals, two assists) in his past three games. … Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich exited COVID-19 protocol Friday and scored a goal in a 5-0 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday but wasn't able to cross the border to play in Vancouver. … Boudreau (577-306-117) is the 29th coach in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. ... DiPietro's only other NHL start came on Feb. 11, 2019, when he allowed seven goals on 24 shots in a 7-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.