Preview: Blues at Canucks

[March 19, 2016]  An inability to tighten up defensively has the St. Louis Blues in danger of suffering a third straight loss for the first time in more than two months when they visit the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. St. Louis began its five-game road trip with an overtime triumph in Dallas but failed to record a win in Alberta, allowing a total of 13 goals in losses to Calgary and Edmonton.

Despite the deficiencies in their own end, the Blues remain in the thick of things in the Central as they trail the first-place Stars by just two points. Vancouver's postseason hopes are virtually nonexistent as it sits 12 points behind Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 12 games remaining. The Canucks are looking to end a losing streak that reached three games with Friday's 2-0 setback in Edmonton. St. Louis, which hosts Vancouver on Friday in the finale of the three-game season series, posted a 4-3 road victory in the opener Oct. 16.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CBC, Sportsnet (Vancouver)
 

ABOUT THE BLUES (41-22-9): St. Louis is expected to regain the services of Brian Elliott, who will be activated from injured reserve and start Saturday's contest. The veteran, who has been sidelined since suffering a lower-body injury against San Jose on Feb. 22, has won five straight decisions and is 6-0-1 in the last seven. Captain David Backes' next goal will be the 205th of his career, moving him past Pavol Demitra for sole possession of sixth place on the franchise list and within three of Keith Tkachuk for fifth.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (27-31-12): Vancouver's blue line is ravaged by injuries as Luca Sbisa, Yannick Weber and Alex Biega all are out with upper-body injuries. However, that has opened the door for Nikita Tryamkin, who notched an assist against Colorado in his NHL debut Wednesday but, like the rest of his teammates, was kept off the scoresheet in Edmonton. The 21-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Canucks last week after being selected in the third round of the 2014 draft.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis RW Vladimir Tarasenko, who his in his fourth NHL season, is one goal away from the century mark and needs three points to reach 200.

2. Canucks RW Jannik Hansen, who is battling a rib injury, is one tally shy of joining LW Daniel Sedin (26) as the team's only 20-goal scorers this season.

3. Backes needs one goal to join Tarasenko (33) as the only Blues to reach the 20-goal plateau this season.

PREDICTION: Blues 5, Canucks 3

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