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Canucks top Blues on Malhotra's goal

Feb 25, 2011 - 7:36 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Manny Malhotra scored the game-winner early in the third period, as the Vancouver Canucks snuck past the St. Louis Blues, 3-2.

Sami Salo and Mikael Samuelsson also lit the lamp for Vancouver, which got 28 saves from Cory Schneider.

The Canucks, who lost to Montreal on Tuesday, avoided dropping consecutive games in regulation for the first time since November 20-21.

Alex Pietrangelo and David Backes scored for the Blues, who have lost three in a row since a three-game winning streak. Ty Conklin made 24 saves.

With the score tied at 2-2 in the third, Malhotra lit the lamp at the 1:05 mark. He gathered a loose puck behind the net, made a quick spin move and fired a wrister past Conklin.

Schneider made eight saves in the third to preserve the victory.

"It's always nice to contribute on the offensive side of things, but more importantly we re-established the momentum we lost in the second period," Malhotra said.

The Canucks drew first blood at the 9:42 mark of the first period when Samuelsson's backhander from in front got past Conklin.

Salo's first goal of the year made it 2-0 with 3:13 to go. Tanner Glass controlled the puck behind the net and slid a pass to the slot for Salo, whose one-timer beat Conklin.

The Blues got two goals of their own in the second to tie the game. The first came at the 6:27 mark from Pietrangelo on the power play. Just over a minute later, Backes found the back of the net with a slapper to make it 2-2.

Game Notes

The Canucks and Blues split four meetings this season...Vancouver improved to 2-1-0 on a six-game homestand...The Blues went 1-for-4 on the power play and have scored at least one power-play goal in their past seven games, a season- high...St. Louis started a three-game road trip on Thursday.