Canucks At Blues Final Score In OT: Canucks 3, Blues 2

The most that can be said for this game is that the Blues snagged a point and are still in second place in the Western Conference for right now. The least that could be said? If you’re in a do-or-die situation for a spot in the standings that your team hasn’t held since the end of the Clinton administration, don’t have lapses of thinking.

The third period finished with a pretty ill-timed penalty from captain David Backes. Shoving Alexandre Burrows from behind into the boards, regardless of if it’s an accident or not, is not a good idea and will get you a boarding call.

He saw Burrows’ numbers and went in for the shove – not even a check. He, like Chris Stewart before him, needs to be aware of his size and the location of the play.

Speaking of being aware of the location of the play, it is always good form not to leave the ice to get a stick while your team’s killing a 4-on-3. T.J. Oshie really needs to remember that, especially while both Henrik and Daniel are on the ice:

The Blues gain a point but stay in second place – that happened the second the third period ended. Detroit also gained a point, and the Blackhawks are currently leading the Minnesota Wild 4-2.

The Blues are next in action Saturday night against those same Minnesota Wild, a team that has consistently given them fits. Here’s hoping that trend breaks, and the Blues can play catch-up to the teams that they need to without having to play them.

Canucks At Blues Second Period Score: Game Knotted Up 2-2

Neither team seems to be interested in letting anyone new score goals in the second period, because the scoresheet looks oddly similar. Shorthanded breakaways, more shots… nothing seems to be working for the Blues. They’re having problems getting pucks past Roberto Luongo. Luckily, Luongo can get pucks past himself, as shown on Jason Arnott’s second goal of the game:

With a little more than two minutes remaining, Alexandre Burrows scored on this nifty deflection (deflected twice, actually) that Brian Elliott had a snowball’s chance in hell with:

As far as countering the Canucks physicality, that’s ceased to be a problem. David Backes has been a force of nature yet again, and Roman Polak of all people got a bit angry. You wouldn’t like Roman when he’s angry.

Blues are out-shooting the Canucks 26-17 and have exploited poor defense on two short handed breakaways just seconds apart: one by David Backes, and one by T.J. Oshie. Obviously, neither went in.

In the last seven games, the team that got to three goals first has won. Here’s hoping that the next goal is St. Louis’.

Canucks At Blues First Period Score: Tied 1-1

That was an interesting first period. The Blues looked a bit discombobulated by the Canucks’ physicality and couldn’t get set up in front of Luongo for a decent portion of the game so far. It took them a little while to figure out what was going on — they looked half asleep — so B.J. Crombeen decided to wake the boys up with this scrap against Dale Weise:

Unfortunatey, that managed to wake up Vancouver instead, with Alexandre Burrows scoring only 24 seconds later:

That goal is why it pays to know where the puck is at all times. The only one who did was Burrows, and when everyone else is unaware of where it is except one player, chances are excellent that he’s going to tap it home. Speaking of tapping things home, Jason Arnott netted his 11th goal of the season by being in the right place at the right time: in front of the net to take advantage of a pretty juicy rebound by Roberto Luongo:

After the goal, the play seemed to even up a bit. Shots are 10-7 in favor of the Blues. If St. Louis wants to win this – and I’m assuming they do – they need to tighten up and wake up.

Canucks At Blues: Alex Steen And Barret Jackman Are Out Tonight

Remember what I said about Alex Steen and Barret Jackman playing tonight? Never mind.

Ken Hitchcock said Steen and Jackman won’t play tonight vs. Vancouver but both may be able to return Saturday. #stlblues

— St. Louis Blues (@St_Louis_Blues) January 12, 2012

The Blues’ll have a little tougher time without the two of them, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. They’ll be back Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.

Canucks At Blues: Battle For First In The Western Conference

Nothing is more unexpected for Blues fans to see their team challenging last year's Western Conference Champions for the lead in this year's playoff picture. They've already won two against the 'Nucks - can they make it three?