Canucks best Blues in shootout after blowing lead

[March 02, 2015]  VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- After scoring five goals in regulation, the Vancouver Canucks needed three more in a shootout to beat the St. Louis Blues 6-5 in a wild game Sunday night.

The Canucks battled back from a 2-0, first-period deficit to score five unanswered goals for a 5-2 lead. They looked to have things comfortably in hand with just under 14 minutes left in the game.

The Blues tied the game with three goals in 7:20 to force overtime.

Vancouver center Chris Higgins, who scored the clincher in the shootout, wasn't surprised by the Blues' resiliency.

"That team has no quit, we knew that," Higgins said. "We play them pretty even every time we play them.

"We knew they weren't going anywhere."

St. Louis center David Backes, who tied the game with his 21st goal of the season at 15:31 of the third, said pride motivated his team.

"It was time to either put up or shut up," he said. "We showed a lot of character there in the third period not to tuck tail and mail it in.

"We kept fighting and found ways to score some goals."

Center Nick Bonino and right winger Radim Vrbata also scored for Vancouver in the shootout. Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko got a shootout goal for St. Louis, but Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack stopped Blues right winger T.J. Oshie.

Lack heaved a sigh of relief after the win.

"I was thinking to myself if the boys score five for me and we can't win, there is something wrong," Lack said. "It was a weird game, and I kept battling.

"It's a very big win for us."

Higgins said mistakes cost Vancouver in the third period.

"It just seemed like a couple of miscues and they ended up in the back of our net," he said. "You can't point at one thing."

Bonino, who scored a regulation goal, said the Canucks were able to match the Blues' tough play.

"When the game started getting physical, we responded," he said. "We were physical right back at them.

"We are going to have to be better at holding a lead. At the end of the day, we got two points."

Defenseman Yannick Weber had a goal and assist for Vancouver. Center Henrik Sedin, center Shawn Matthias and right winger Jannik Hansen also scored goals. Vrbata and left winger Ronalds Kenins each added two assists for Vancouver (36-23-3).

Right winger Dmitrij Jaskin, defenseman Petteri Lindbohm and Backes scored in the third period for St. Louis. Right winger Ryan Reaves and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues (40-18-5). Oshie had three assists.

Canuck coach Willie Desjardins said fatigue took a toll on his injury-riddled team. Vancouver is missing six players due to injury.

"(Giving up a lead) is not something we want to happen, but I think our lineup is pretty banged up," he said. "We have guys who are playing hard and are tired.

"They are really good team. They started to push back and they scored a couple, got a power play that got them going. I thought we responded well."

St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock liked that his team never quit.

The Blues, who were playing a second game in as many nights, had a chance to win in it in overtime when they rang two shots off the post.

"We deserved a lot better fate," Hitchcock said. "A lesser team would have folded it up, but we came back and pounded on it hard in the third period. We played a whale of a hockey game. This feels like a tie, it doesn't feel like a loss. We did a heck of a job."

Goaltender Jake Allen started the game for St. Louis but was replaced briefly by Brian Elliott to start the third period after giving up four goals on 21 Vancouver shots. Elliott gave up one goal on six shots, and Allen returned to the game.

Overall, Allen stopped 21 of 25 shots, and St. Louis outshot Vancouver 39-31. Lack made 34 saves.

NOTES: The Canucks moved C Shawn Matthias between RW Linden Vey and LW Chris Higgins to have a bigger center against St. Louis C Dave Backes. ... D Frank Corrado (out since Feb. 1 with an upper-body injury) and D Chris Tanev (out since Feb. 14 with an upper-body injury) both skated with the Canucks on Saturday but did not dress against St. Louis. ... The Canucks play 16 games in 31 days in March. ... Vancouver's homestand continues against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. ... RW Vladimir Tarasenko is the first Blues player to record two hat tricks in a season since Brett Hull in 1996-97. ... The Blues' scratches were D Chris Butler, C Joakim Lindstrom and LW Chris Porter. ... St. Louis plays the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday.

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