Vrana scores twice for Blues in 6-5 overtime win
By Warren Mayes, The Associated Press on March 28, 2023.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jakub Vrana scored two goals, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 6-5 overtime victory Tuesday over the Vancouver Canucks. Vrana scored 28 seconds into overtime for St. Louis. The Blues improved to 5-1-1 in their past seven games. Vancouver had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time in its last 13 games. The Canucks had won five of their previous six. Pavel Buchnevich, Alexey Toropchenko, Justin Faulk and Robert Thomas also scored for the Blues. Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes scored two goals apiece, and Brock Boeser added a goal and two assists for the Canucks. Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots for St. Louis, which improved to 4-0-2 against the Canucks. Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko fell to 2-2-1 lifetime against the Blues. Vancouver scored twice in the third period to tie it 5-5. The Canucks narrowed the gap to 5-4 on Kuzmenko’s second goal at 12:18. Hughes tied it with his second goal at 19:06 while the Canucks had an extra skater on the ice. The Blues scored three unanswered goals in the second period before the Canucks scored late to take a 5-3 lead into the final period. Vrana snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:24 and kicked off a three-goal push. Saad picked off a Boeser pass and fed Vrana, who scored on a slap shot from the top of the slot. Thomas beat Demko for a power-play goal at 12:08. On a rush, Kasperi Kapanen made a great feed to Buchnevich, who pushed it in for his 25th goal at 13:36. ICE CHIPS Blues assigned goaltender Joel Hofer to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. Hofer started five of the six games during his recall, which began when Binnington earned a two-game NHL suspension. Hofer posted a 3-0-1 record with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. “¦ RW Vitali Kravtsov returned to the Canucks lineup after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. INJURIES Canucks: RW Vasily Podkolzin (upper body) remains day-to-day after not playing Saturday in Chicago. He exited Saturday’s game at Dallas after blocking a shot. “¦ D Noah Juulsen (lower body) remains out. UP NEXT Canucks: Host Calgary on Friday. Blues: Play Thursday at Chicago. — More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 19-18
