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Canucks' Henrik Sedin gets OT winner vs. Blues

[October 19, 2016] VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks keep finding ways to win.

This time Henrik Sedin who was the hero, scoring at 1:40 of overtime to give the Canucks a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Vancouver improved to 3-0-0 despite trailing heading into the third period in each game. The Canucks have won twice in overtime and once in a shootout.

"After the first two games, when you know you are able to come back, it just brings a calmness to the team," said Henrik Sedin, who scored his first goal of the season.

"Even being down against a really good team tonight, we were confident we were going to get chances and come back. That's a huge difference."

Bo Horvat tied the game for Vancouver with 2:55 left in the third period.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues.

The winning goal in three-on-three overtime started with Daniel Sedin and Chris Tanev working a give-and-go. That allowed Daniel Sedin to get the puck down low, then pass it to his twin brother. Henrik Sedin batted the puck past Blues goaltender Jake Allen.

"Daniel and Tanev made some nice plays," said Henrik Sedin, the Canucks' captain. "I just tried to drive the net. "Daniel put it backdoor, and I was able to get a stick on it."

The Blues (3-0-1) were looking to go 4-0-0 for just the second time in franchise history.

"Getting points on the road is key," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Overtime was a mistake. We stayed on the ice too long."

Vancouver's first two wins came against the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes, teams that didn't have winning records when they played the Canucks.

Horvat's goal came after defenseman Erik Gubranson fired a shot from the point. Allen made the save, but Horvat tucked in the rebound for his second goal of the season.

Dating back to last season, it was the first time Vancouver scored on St. Louis in 177 minutes, 34 seconds.

"I just builds confidence knowing we can beat great teams like that," Horvat said. "St. Louis hadn't lost yet this year.

"For us to come and play them as well as we did tonight, not give up much and come back again, it just shows that we're right there with all these teams."

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom said the win showed the Canucks' character.

"It gets results if you keep playing, keep grinding," said Markstrom, who made 23 saves. "Obviously it would be nice to be up a couple of goals and win that way, but we'll take these two points."

Hitchcock said his team played well in the third period, but a breakdown allowed the Canucks to tie the game.

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Canucks forward Bo Horvat (53) scores a goal against St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the third period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

"The puck was on our stick three times (before) we gave up the goal," he said. "If we would have skated with it three times, it's out. But we just shoveled it and made it someone else's problem. It ended up in the back of our net."

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said the Blues got away from their game late in the third.

"It's tough at the end to give one up like that," he said. "We had some good energy, then we started to sit back.

"We just didn't execute at the end of the third like we had to. We got a point out of it. So far it's a point in every game. We still need to be better going into the next game."

Allen finished with 24 saves.

Tarasenko scored at 10:23 of the second period. He beat Markstrom on a partial breakaway with a shot to the short side that handcuffed the Canucks goalie.

It was Tarasenko's fourth goal and sixth point in four games.

NOTES: With G Ryan Miller not dressing for the game after feeling "a little tight" during the morning skate, the Canucks called up University of British Columbia G Matt Hewitt as an emergency backup. ... RW Jack Skille made his first start on a line with C Bo Horvat and LW Sven Baertschi. ... Canucks scratches were RW Jack Virtanen, D Nikita Tryamkin and D Alex Biega. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Thursday against Buffalo. ... The Blues C Jori Lehtera (upper body) isn't on the Blues' three-game road trip after being placed on injured reserve. ... D Carl Gunnarsson (upper body), C Kyle Brodziak (upper body) and LW Jaden Schwartz (elbow) were scratched. ... RW Ty Rattie started on the first line with C Paul Stastny and LW Robby Fabbri. ... RW Alexander Steen centered the second line with LW David Perron and RW Vladimir Tarasenko. ... The Blues' road trip continues Thursday in Edmonton.

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