Canucks vs. Blues: St. Louis beats Vancouver for first win in NHL playoffs

Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom (25) is scored on by St. Louis Blues' Brayden Schenn (10) as Troy Stecher (51) defends during overtime NHL Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff action in Edmonton, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Edmonton — Brayden Schenn scored in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win on Sunday, putting them back into contention in their first-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.

Schenn, circling in the neutral zone, took a stretch pass with less than five minutes to go in the extra frame, raced in and fired a shot high past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom.

The Canucks are up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 goes Monday night.

David Perron and Justin Faulk also scored for St. Louis while Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller replied for the Canucks.

Goaltender Jake Allen stopped 39 shots for the win. Markstrom stopped 46-of-49 for Vancouver.

All the scoring in regulation play came in the second period, starting on the power play when Pettersson hit Miller with a tape-to-tape stretch pass with Miller in full flight at the Blues blue line. Miller streaked in and snapped a shot high glove side on Allen for a 1-0 lead.

The Blues tied it midway through the period when Faulk jumped into the slot, took a seam pass from Robert Thomas and ripped the puck past Markstrom.

Perron gave the Blues their first lead of the series, taking a dish pass from Ryan O'Reilly and delivering a sharp angle shot over Markstrom's shoulder.

Vancouver replied just seconds later when St. Louis defencemen Colton Parayko and Marco Scandella got tangled up with the puck in the high slot. Pettersson jumped in and fired a quick shot short-side under the bar on Allen.

It was Allen's first appearance in the series, replacing Jordan Binnington, the hero of the 2019 Cup run.

Binnington has struggled in return to play, fighting rebounds while letting in nine goals in the first two games (.809 save percentage) against the Canucks.

Allen saw limited action in the regular season but compiled a 12-6-3 record and a .927 save percentage. The 30-year-old from Fredericton, N.B., stopped 37-of-38 shots against Dallas in his lone appearance in the round robin.

The Blues were without winger Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian sniper played in the first two games but did not dress for Game 3. The NHL is not releasing injury information.

For Vancouver, defenceman Jordie Benn entered the lineup for Tyler Myers. Myers fell awkwardly into the boards on a hit from Schenn late in Game 2.

All Western Conference games are being played in an empty Rogers Place, with players isolated in a so-called bubble on their off time to prevent contracting COVID-19.

St. Louis was the Western Conference leader (42-29-10) when the NHL halted, and eventually ended, the regular season on March 12 due to COVID-19.

The Blues lost all three games in the round robin, dropping to the fourth seed and were winless against the Canucks until Sunday.

The Canucks were 36-27-6, good for 18th in the NHL, when play was suspended. They defeated the Minnesota Wild in four games in the qualifying round.

They have not been in the playoffs since 2015, and have not won a playoff series since beating the San Jose Sharks in 2011 in the NHL's final four. That year, they went on to lose to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 16, 2020.