Blues handed first loss of the season by Canucks in OT
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canucks coach Willie Desjardins knows this formula for success can't be sustained. It's making a fun little ride, though.
Henrik Sedin scored 1:40 into overtime after Bo Horvat tied it late in the third period, lifting Vancouver over the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Horvat scored with 2:55 left in regulation, helping Vancouver to its third consecutive comeback win to start the season. Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves.
"We can't keep playing that way," said Desjardins. "We are not going to keep winning if we're behind."
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Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the second period for St. Louis, and Jake Allen had 24 stops.
The winner came after Markstrom made a nice glove save in the extra period and played the puck to keep the play moving. Christopher Tanev worked a nice give-and-go with Daniel Sedin, and then Tanev took a light shot that Henrik Sedin re-directed in for his first of the season.
The Canucks trailed both of their previous games heading into the third. Horvat's goal snapped a streak of 177 minutes, 34 seconds of shutout hockey by St. Louis against Vancouver dating to 2015-16.
"I thought we played a good game, though," said Desjardins, whose club won just three times when down after 40 minutes in 2015-16.
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"The whole game we played well and we generated stuff and just didn't score. We believed if we stayed with it something would go in and it finally did, and overtime can always go either way."
Vancouver has won twice in overtime and once in a shootout to start the season.
"When you know you are able to come back it just brings a calmness to the team," Henrik Sedin said. "Even being down against a really good team tonight, we are confident we are going to get chances and come back and that's a huge difference."
The Blues took the lead at 10:23 of the second after Allen stopped Henrik Sedin's initial shot and then the rebound on a flurry in front. St. Louis broke the other way on a 2-on-1, with Tarasenko ripping his fourth of the season shortside on Markstrom.
"You move on," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, whose team was looking to win four straight to open a season for just the second time in franchise history. "Getting points on the road is key."
The Canucks had a number of excellent chances leading up to the goal, with both Markus Granlund and Horvat hitting the post before Allen stopped Daniel Sedin from the slot.
Vancouver's power play, now scoreless on 10 opportunities to start the season, had a chance midway through the third, but could only muster a single shot from the point that Allen handled with ease.
St. Louis then hit the post on a partial breakaway off the stick of Patrik Berglund, and the Blues forward crashed into Markstrom, who made a great back-to-back saves on Nail Yakupov and Paul Stastny from in close moments later.
Markstrom was expected to get the night off after winning his season debut, a 4-3 overtime triumph against Carolina on Sunday, but No. 1 goalie Ryan Miller arrived at Rogers Arena on Tuesday morning feeling "a little tight," according to Desjardins.
That thrust Markstrom back into the crease and forced the club to dress University of British Columbia goalie Matt Hewitt as an emergency backup because it couldn't get another netminder from within the organization to Vancouver in time for the game.
The Canucks looked to have taken the lead with 6:10 left in the opening period on Luca Sbisa's first of the season, but the goal was waved off after video review because of a distinct kicking motion by the Vancouver defenseman on a play that resulted in a St. Louis penalty for hooking.
NOTES: Hewitt, a native of nearby New Westminster, played three seasons with the WHL's Regina Pats before continuing his career in university hockey. ... The Canucks were also forced to use a UBC goaltender during the 2003-04 season due to injury. Chris Levesque dressed for one game as Johan Hedberg's backup when Dan Cloutier, now Vancouver's goalie coach, went down during the morning skate. ... Former St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott picked up consecutive shutouts against Vancouver last March.
