VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist as the St. Louis Blues beat the Underground Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Sunday night.
Brayden Shannon and Jordan Cairo also scored for the Blues, and Vladimir Tarasenko made two assists. Ville Husso intercepted 38 shots and scored .963 save-percentages in his last five matches.
Tarasenko said, "When someone plays well, it always gives positive emotions to teammates, but especially when a goalkeeper is performing, like almost every night and we are really very happy for him. " "He's a great guy and he works very hard to find success and he's achieving it now and it's fun to watch."
Blues coach Craig Berub liked what he saw from his team.
"Our goalkeeper was really good tonight and we scored a few times and that was the difference in a hockey game," he said. "Our penalty kill worked well to end things, again got the power-play goal. The special teams came and our goalkeeper came.
Tanner Pearson had a goal for the Canucks, who have six players and two assistant coaches in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
Michael DiPietro, making his second start to his career and first in nearly three years, made 14 saves at the start of his season for Vancouver, becoming the fourth goalkeeper to play for the team this season.
"I certainly wasn't as nervous as last time, but the nerves were still there," DiPietro said. "I just tried to stretch, keep your mind as calm as possible, leading up to the game, making the butterflies go away as quickly as possible. Whenever you get a chance to play hockey for a living, especially in the NHL, This is a childhood dream.
Down 3-1 with less than 90 seconds to spare, the Canucks pulled DiPietro in favor of an extra attacker. Tarasenko almost scored a blank-netter, but a trio of Canucks with the intention of not dropping another goal stunned him.
Kyrou extended the St. Louis lead to 3-1, while remaining 3:17 in the second period, firing a shot through traffic. Puck appeared to be pinging DiPietro's rod shaft from the inside. Both Faulk and Tarasenko assisted in the play. Tarasenko has scored six goals in his last nine appearances and nine assists in the stretch.
He also included in a power-play goal that lifted the Blues 2–1 in the second period after the Canucks called for too many men. Tarasenko cuts a pass to Shane, who was stationed at the back door. Shane poked it at 3:26 for his ninth goal of the year.
St. Louis was 1 for 3 in Sunday's power play, while Vancouver failed to score on four occasions.
Vancouver had a 5-on-3 power play in the first period after Matthew Highmore's tangle with both Ivan Barbashev and Torey Krug. Barbashev was called in for the roughing and Krug was called in to remove Highmore's helmet.
The Canucks made five shots on the two-man advantage, but did not score. However, seconds after the penalty ended, Pearson picked up a rebound from Alex Chiasson to the side of the net and passed Hasso to give Vancouver a 1–0 lead with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the period. Elias Pettersson recorded an assist in the play, earning him a 100 for his NHL career.
"We're having a hard time scoring right now," Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We've had a few breakaways here and there, we've got some great looks. And once we score, two guys jump on the ice. ... from the way they work and the way I take care of them Really happy. Just when we go on the ice I hope to win every time so I'm unhappy with that result.
Faulk drew St. Louis before the first interval. Oskar Sundqvist blasted a pass to Faulk in the front of the net and the defenseman deflected it between his legs, sending the puck into the crossbar and with 1:27 remaining.
Boudreau's landmark
Boudreau coached his 1,000th NHL game. Hired by Vancouver on December 5, the 67-year-old former NHL center has also served behind the bench for the Washington, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota. In 2008, he won the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach after guiding the Floundering Capitals through a bounce-back campaign.
Boudreau's wife Crystal and their two children were in the crowd on Sunday as the milestone was marked with a video tribute before the puck drop. Many of the coach's former players - including Marcus Foligno, Alex Ovechkin and Kevin Bexa - and colleagues such as Stan Bowman sent congratulatory messages.
Boudreau admitted to being a bit emotional on the bench.
"You never know how you (players) leave when you're fired," the coach said. “You don’t know what you have if players don’t want to play for you. But when you see those players saying things like that, it becomes a bit much for you.”
out with COVID-19
Canucks All-Star goalkeeper Thatcher Demko and backup Jaroslav Halak and Spencer Martin are all in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol with forwards Bo Horvat, Conor Garland and J.T. Miller. Assistant coaches Scott Walker and Kyle Gustafson were added to the list on Sunday. Arters Silovs of the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks has also tested positive for the virus, forcing Vancouver to sign an amateur tryout deal on University of British Columbia goalkeeper Rylan Toth to act as DiPietro's backup .
Next
Blues: To end a three-game trip on Monday night in Calgary.
The Canucks: Host Edmonton on Tuesday night to wrap up a three-game homestand.