Blues 2, Canucks 1 (SO)
ST. LOUIS -- Maybe the St. Louis Blues learned the missing secret to their goal-scoring woes on Tuesday night -- have only one man on the ice.
Andy McDonald and Alex Steen scored in the shootout to give the Blues a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through overtime.
St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott stopped shots by Derek Roy and Alexandre Burrows in the shootout to give the Blues an important win as they battle for a playoff spot in the Western Conference with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
Scoring goals has been a major problem for the Blues, who through the overtime had scored only six goals in their previous six games.
Alexander Edler's shot from the right point banged off the post and past Elliott with just 12 seconds left in the second period to put Vancouver up 1-0. The Canucks got the man advantage after Vladimir Sobotka was called for hooking Cam Barker with 1:14 left in the period.
It was the first power-play goal allowed by the Blues in 24 chances, having killed off a minor penalty in the first period.
The Blues, who had not scored in their last seven periods, got the puck past Vancouver goalie Cory Schneider midway through the third period. Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester picked up a loose puck inside the blue line and skated in on goal and slipped it past Schneider to tie the score.
It was Bouwmeester's first goal with the Blues in his eighth game since being acquired from Calgary earlier this month.
The Blues outshot the Canucks 35-18 in regulation.
The victory gave St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock the 600th win of his NHL coaching career, coming after the Blues had lost their previous two attempts to give him the milestone win.
NOTES: 20-year-old Dmitrij Jaskin made his NHL debut for the Blues. The Russian native was the team's second-round pick in the 2011 draft. He skated on a line with Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves. ... The Blues said forward T.J. Oshie underwent surgery for a stress fracture of his left ankle on Tuesday. He had missed the past eight games after being injured while blocking a shot in a March 28 game against Los Angeles. His status was said to be week to week. ... Vancouver was playing its fourth game on a five-game road trip that will conclude with a game on Thursday in Dallas. ... The Blues play host to Phoenix on Thursday and Dallas on Friday.
