Canucks come from behind, take series lead over Blues

[August 20, 2020]  Tyler Motte scored twice, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series at Edmonton.

The Canucks grabbed a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series.

J.T. Miller and Jake Virtanen also scored for the Canucks, and goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 36 of 39 shots.

Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford scored for the Blues, and goalie Jake Allen made 26 saves.

The Blues led 3-1 after Sanford's power-play goal at 5:51 of the second period, but the Canucks came back with three goals in a span of 6:23 later in the middle period.

The Canucks struck first with Motte's first-period short-handed goal. When Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo broke his stick attempting a slap shot, Motte pounced on the flubbed attempt, broke down the ice, danced around Pietrangelo and beat Allen for a 1-0 lead at 13:15.

Schenn tied the game just 2 1/2 minutes later. He jumped into the ice on a line change, skated onto a centering pass just inside the blue line and scored from the high slot.

Blues forward Ivan Barbashev, just back from paternity leave and making his series debut, set a screen on that play.

O'Reilly put the Blues up 2-1 with 29 seconds left in the first period. His wraparound attempt banked in off the stick of Canucks defenseman Jordie Benn.

Sanford pushed the margin to two goals early in the second period. He took a pass from Robert Thomas, cut through the right circle and converted a snap shot off the inside of the right post.

Blues goaltender Jake Allen (34) makes a save during warmup against the Vancouver Canucks in game five of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

After Markstrom made some huge saves to keep the game close, Miller cut the deficit to 3-2 and triggered a furious Canucks rally. He walked out for a point-blank shot on Allen, then jammed the rebound through him at 11:54.

That goal reversed the game's momentum. Virtanen tied the game by banking a shot off Allen at 16:08, and Motte converted a clean break-in with 1:43 left in the period to put the Canucks up 4-3.

Motte, Miller, Virtanen and Elias Pettersson (two assists) each had two-point nights for Vancouver.

--Field Level Media

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