Blues get closer to Western wild card, defeat Canucks

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues moved within one point of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Scottrade Center on Friday.

WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Blues highlights]
The Blues (41-28-5), who have won four straight and six of seven, trail the Colorado Avalanche by one point and the Anaheim Ducks by two. St. Louis is three points behind the Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division.
"It's taking it day by day right now," Blues center Kyle Brodziak said. "We did a good job, got the win tonight. Tomorrow's a whole new story."
Patrik Berglund scored twice, and Jake Allen made 19 saves for St. Louis.

"It feels really good to score goals always," Berglund said, "but at this time of year, it doesn't matter who scores. We just need all the points that we can get here to get into the playoffs."
Anders Nilsson made 21 saves for the Canucks (26-40-9), who are 1-8-0 in the past nine games.
"Tough one," Vancouver coach Travis Green said. "It's 2-1 going into the third, and that first goal in the third, it was a lucky goal, but that's hard to come back from with our team right now against a team that's got some pretty big defensemen. We had a hard time getting inside."
Berglund's goal at 4:44 of the second period was the fifth shorthanded goal of the season for the Blues and made it 2-0. It was Berglund's first multigoal game since March 21, 2017.
Sam Gagner made it 2-1 with his first goal since Jan. 6 (26 games) at 14:47.

Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed two games with an upper-body injury, scored 14 seconds into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead. Dmitrij Jaskin made it 4-1 at 17:31.
Berglund scored 40 seconds into the first period for a 1-0 lead on a backhand high from the low slot.
"I came in full speed and I figured I would just put it on the net real quick, and [Nilsson] wasn't really ready, so it feels good," Berglund said.
The Blues on Saturday will try to end the 10-game winning streak of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"I would say that they are the hottest team," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. "When you're on a streak like that, they're playing exceptionally well right now. ... They look really good, heck of a challenge. They're sitting there waiting for us."

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Goal of the game

Berglund's goal at 4:44 of the second period.

Save of the game

Allen's save against Derrick Pouliot at 9:45 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Tarasenko's goal 14 seconds into the third period.

They said it

"It's always better in a win, but sometimes just getting one allows you to get started and then help the team win by producing some offense. We've got to find a way to score goals around here and create some offense, so hopefully it gets me started." -- Canucks forward Sam Gagner
"Sometimes the puck just kind of bounces your way. It's been doing it for me lately and hopefully you can find the right spot on the ice to put a few more in." -- Blues forward Patrik Berglund
"We started picking it up in the second, but it still wasn't quite on top of the way that we've [been] playing as of late. I liked our third period. I thought our third period was better." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo

Need to know

Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson tore his left ACL in the first period and will need six months to recover from surgery. The 31-year-old had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 63 games. … Canucks left wing Brendan Leipsic did not play because of an upper-body injury sustained in a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday; he is day to day. ... The Blues have won five straight against the Canucks and are 8-0-1 against them in the past nine.

What's next

Canucks: At the Dallas Stars on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Blues: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-MW, NHL.TV)