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Canucks hold off late Blues rally

Mar 20, 2013 - 6:13 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Dale Weise's second-period tally proved to be the difference, as the Vancouver Canucks held off the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, on Tuesday at Rogers Arena.

Daniel Sedin registered a goal and an assist, while Jannik Hansen also lit the lamp as part of a three-goal second stanza that helped the Canucks put the brakes on a two-game skid.

Cory Schneider stopped 32 shots in the victory.

"We got a real solid performance from Cory," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "You need great goaltending to win in this league. He gave us that."

Jaden Schwartz and Patrik Berglund each scored once in the third, but St. Louis winger Vladimir Sobotka was whistled for boarding with just over three minutes left in regulation to handcuff the Blues' comeback bid.

Jake Allen allowed all three goals on 19 shots for the Blues, who had won three straight and five of their last six coming in.

St. Louis dominated the play over the opening 20 minutes, but Schneider stopped all 15 shots he faced in the frame to help the Canucks kill off a pair of penalties and send the teams into the second locked in a scoreless tie.

After managing just three shots in the first, Vancouver broke through with a pair of goals just 1:42 apart less than five minutes into the second.

The first came at the 2:30 mark of the middle stanza, as Mason Raymond's feed from the neutral zone sprang Hansen down the right side before the Vancouver winger rifled a blast from the top of the right circle that found the far top corner of the net to make it 1-0.

The Sedin twins combined for the second marker just under two minutes later, when Henrik Sedin recovered a rebound behind the net and skated to the low left side before sliding a pass to his brother cutting to the low right side, where Daniel Sedin buried a one-timer for a 2-0 lead at the 4:12 mark.

Vancouver added to its lead at the 11:15 mark when Jordan Schroeder skated hard into the zone before spinning around in the high slot. Schroeder then fed a cutting Weise on the low right side before the Vancouver winger cut in front and beat Allen with a backhand to make it 3-0.

"They're top players started to really dial it up in the second and we didn't have an answer for about 10 or 12 minutes," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock admitted. "We got great effort from Sobotka's line, but other than that we didn't get much of a push."

After registering just six shots in the second, St. Louis stormed back in the third, as Vladimir Tarasenko's one-timer from the top of the left circle deflected off the body of Schwartz in front before finding the back of the net to bring the Blues within 3-1 at the 5:46 mark.

The Blues continued to battle back with another marker later in the third, as Kris Russell's blast from the top of the left circle caught Vancouver defenseman Christopher Tanev up high before landing on the stick of Berglund, who buried a quick shot past Schneider to make it 3-2 at the 13:38 mark.

St. Louis would get no closer though, as Sobotka's boarding minor at the 16:54 mark forced the Blues to play on the penalty kill down the stretch.

Game Notes

Vancouver wrapped up a four-game homestand at 2-2 ... St. Louis defeated Vancouver 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 17 in the only other meeting between these teams this season ... St. Louis finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Vancouver failed on both of its opportunities with the man advantage.