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Canucks spoil McDonald's return with big third period

Feb 11, 2009 - 6:15 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks appear to be turning things around.

Jannik Hansen snapped a tie with 4:42 remaining as the Canucks scored four times in the third period Tuesday en route to a 6-4 triumph over the St. Louis Blues.

Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and former Blue Pavol Demitra also tallied in the final session for the Canucks, who have won three in a row following an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3).

"People like Mats (Sundin) and Pavol make everybody better," Kesler said. "If you get a play started, one or the other will get it finished. And the power play is finally making sense, too."

Demitra and defenseman Kevin Bieksa each added a pair of assists, Kesler set up a tally and Sundin recorded his first two-goal performance for Vancouver, which trailed midway through the third.

Andy McDonald registered a goal and an assist in his return from a fractured leg, defenseman Steve Wagner, Brad Boyes and All-Star Keith Tkachuk also scored and rookie Patrik Berglund collected three assists for the Blues, who fell to 6-2-3 in their last 11 games and 16-2-1 this season when leading after two periods.

"Our penalty kill, which has been strong for us, made some mistakes tonight," said St. Louis coach Andy Murray, whose team yielded two power-play goals on five chances. "Besides our defensive play, I didn't like our puck management. We scored four goals and lost, at home. That's the bottom line."

Entering with a 4-1-2 mark in its previous seven home games, St. Louis got off to a good start in this one, scoring twice in the final 93 seconds of the first period to take a 2-0 lead. But Sundin sandwiched a pair of goals around Tkachuk's in the middle session, and Vancouver erupted for four in the third to send the crowd at Scottrade Center home disappointed.

"They seemed to be getting a little loose with their puckhandling in the third, so we started pressuring with our forwards and we got some nice chances," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "With everybody in the mix and playing well, we can take a few more chances in the neutral zone because we can keep the play alive when we go forward."

Kesler began the uprising in the final period at 7:58 with his sixth goal in four games.

With the Canucks on a power play, Sundin sneaked up on Jay McClement from behind and stole the puck before the Blues' center could clear the defensive zone. Following several passes, Kesler beat goaltender Chris Mason high to the glove side from the right faceoff circle, extending his goal-scoring streak to four games and knotting the contest at 3-3.

Returning after a 36-game absence, McDonald put St. Louis back in front less than two minutes later, receiving a pass from behind the net by T.J. Oshie and sliding the puck under netminder Roberto Luongo at 9:26.

But Burrows forged another tie with 8:12 remaining, skating down the left wing and unleashing a shot from the faceoff circle that deflected off a defender's stick and past Mason on the short side.

"In the third, we needed to play strong, make some good decisions," McDonald said. "We didn't do it tonight."

Just 3 1/2 minutes later, Hansen fired the puck into a vacant net after it bounced to him alone on the left side, giving the Canucks their first lead of the night at 5-4.

"We kind of caught them running around a little in their zone," Hansen said. "The back door was open on the left."

Demitra, who played for the Blues from 1996-2004, sealed the victory with an empty-netter with nine seconds remaining.

"This looks a lot like what we had here in St. Louis a few years back," Demitra said of his current team's lineup. "Then throw in Mats, Ryan, and suddenly it just makes so much sense. When defenses can't keep up to begin with, you can try some things, and that's what we were able to do in the third period."

Wagner opened the scoring at 18:27 of the first period with a slap shot from the top of the left circle, and Boyes doubled the advantage 89 seconds later with a power-play goal.

Sundin, who had scored just four goals in his first 11 games with the Canucks but two in as many games entering Tuesday, got his team on the board at 3:48 of the second. Tkachuk restored St. Louis' two-goal bulge at 6:01, but Sundin beat Mason from alone on the left side of the net 1:59 later to cut the deficit to 3-2.

"We forced them into some mistakes, and then we circled around and caught them off-guard a bit, especially later," Sundin said. "I'm feeling better moving around, and tonight, we all got around pretty well. Ryan and Pavol are doing so much, know what to do, and it's coming together."

Luongo and Mason each made 24 saves.