Blues Cut Canucks’ series led to 2-1 at Brayden Schenn’s OT goal

It lasted six games, but the Stanley Cup defending champions St. Louis Blues finally tasted victory in the NHL’s relaunched postseason.

Brayden Schenn’s breakaway goal on Sunday evening at 3:06 p.m. in extra time brought the Blues a 3-2 win and reduced the Vancouver Canucks’ lead in the quarter-finals of the Western Conference to 2-1.

It was the first victory for St. Louis since entering the Edmonton, Alberta bubble; The Blues went 2-1 in the round robin game and dropped the first two games of their series against Vancouver.

Game 4 is Monday evening.

“All three games were close. We got the winner tonight,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “You have to take your breaks here and there and we scored more than them tonight.”

The Blues made significant line-up changes following their Game 2 defeat. Strikers Vladimir Tarasenko, who had not yet scored a point in four postseason games, and Alexander Steen were both sitting and, according to Berube, were “unable to play”.

The coach also put the starting goalkeeper Jordan Binnington on the bench, who had a saving of 0.862 percent and a 0: 4: 0 record on the restart.

“We haven’t had a win yet, so change it,” said Berube.

Goalkeeper Jake Allen was outstanding in Game 3, making 39 saves.

“He was exceptional. We have two really good goalkeepers and it’s up to the coach who plays in one-on-one,” said Blues winger David Perron, who scored his fourth goal of the postseason.

The Blues played well before him too, with the kind of dominant pre-trial and puck possession game that led them to the championship last season. St. Louis had 91 attempts in the game in 5v5, while Vancouver had 53.

“They were better tonight. We knew they were coming. They are the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason,” said Canucks captain Bo Horvat. “They know what it takes to win and they won’t shy away from a fight.”

Schenn’s overtime winner came immediately after jumping the boards and replacing teammate Jaden Schwartz when making a change.

“Lucky Bounce. The puck somehow jumped into the middle,” said Schenn.

It was the second overtime game in this closely played series. Only this time it was the veteran Blues who brought victory over his inexperienced opponents from Vancouver.

“We must have a short-term memory loss,” said Horvat. “The good thing is that we will play again tomorrow.”