The St. Louis Blues defeated the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Canucks have won the previous two games in this series. Here is the recap of Game 3 between the Blues and Canucks.
Scratches
St. Louis: Niko Mikkola, Ivan Barbashev, Derrick Pouliot, Jake Walman, Alexander Steen, Troy Brouwer, Ville Husso, Austin Poganski, Robert Bortuzzo, Klim Kostin, Vladimir Tarasenko
Vancouver: Louis Domingue, Olli Juolevi, Brogan Rafferty, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Myers, Micheal Ferland, Tyler Toffoli, Jalen Chatfield, Justin Bailey
1st Period
The Blues didn’t want to be down 3-0 in this series so they made sure to take control of this period. And, for the most part they did. They outshot the Canucks 11-8 getting decent scoring chances. The Blues also started goaltender Jake Allen putting Jordan Binnington on the bench to help this team get back on track. It’s not to say that Binnington is a bad goaltender but his performance hasn’t got the Blues any wins since entering the bubble.
The game was tied at zero heading into the second period.
2nd Period
This was probably one of the most entertaining periods in this series. It was a barrage of goals with both teams combining for four goals. The Canucks got the game’s first goal from forward J.T. Miller on a power play 1:19 into the period. But, knowing that they’re down in this series, the Blues struck back with two unanswered goals from defenseman Justin Faulk and forward David Perron 10:14 apart. As a result, this would be the Blues’ first lead in this series. However, the Canucks wouldn’t back down easily as forward Elias Petterson scored to tie the game 37 seconds after Perron’s goal.
The game was tied at two heading into the third period.
3rd Period
No goals were scored but the theme of this game was still the same: momentum swings. The Canucks were in control for all of five minutes of this period. And, then the Blues started to establish their offensive presence though the Canucks were able to keep the shots on goal numbers close. The Blues only outshot the Canucks by three shots 12-9. The Canucks were able to keep this game tied by blocking shots in crucial moments of the period.
The game was still tied at two heading into overtime.
Overtime
This is the second overtime period in this series. The first overtime period in this series came in Game 2 with the Canucks winning it. Canucks captain Bo Horvat scored the overtime game winning goal. However, it would be the Blues who got the overtime win. Both teams would get prime scoring chances to win the game during this overtime. Blues forward Brayden Schenn scored the overtime game winning goal 15:06 into the period.
St. Louis won the game 3-2 but still trail the series 2-1.
Three Stars of the Game
Third Star: Elias Pettersson (1 goal, 1 assist)
Second Star: Jacob Markstrom (46 saves)
First Star: Brayden Schenn (1 goal)
St. Louis finally got its first since entering the Edmonton bubble. They capitalized on their scoring chances which boosted their confidence to get going on the offensive end. And, it got them going defensively showing their hard checking style of defense. However, they can’t allow Vancouver to get as many scoring chances as possible if they want to tie the series in Game 4. Otherwise, Vancouver will find a way to get the puck into the net. We’ve seen it in the first two games and how detrimental it can be for St. Louis’ morale.
On the other hand, Vancouver didn’t have a bad performance despite the loss. They got going offensively like they have been the past two games. However, with the loss of defensmen Tyler Myers, their blue line took a bit of damage on the defensive side. As a result, Vancouver let their defense slip a bit and gave St. Louis more opportune scoring chances during this game. They had to block 30 St. Louis shots this game. They blocked 18 shots in Game 1 and 25 shots in Game 2. This has been a progression that isn’t good for Vancouver. The more scoring chances St. Louis gets the more chances they have of scoring goals.
Game 4 of the Blues-Canucks series is on Aug. 17 at 10:30 p.m. EST.
