Vancouver @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 23, 2018 ) Vancouver 1, St. Louis 4

The St. Louis Blues look to follow up one of their best defensive efforts of the season and win back-to-back games for the first time in a month when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon. The Blues gave up eight goals to Winnipeg on Nov. 24 and turned the tables Friday with a 1-0 victory over the Jets as Jake Allen stopped all 26 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season.

“Something we want to take pride in is being a good defensive group, and we weren’t happy with what happened at home last game (against the Jets),” St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo told reporters. “Guys stepped up and made hard plays in hard areas.” The Blues have climbed out of last place in the Central Division by going 3-3-1 in their last seven contests, and Allen told reporters “every game is a playoff game,” while Vancouver is 2-10-2 after a promising 10-6-1 start to the campaign. However, the Canucks may have created a spark Thursday by knocking off Nashville 5-3, with five different players scoring as the team ended its four-game losing streak. “I think we played good some games that we lost,” Vancouver rookie Elias Pettersson told reporters. “It’s good to finally be rewarded, get some bounces with us. We played really good (Thursday). This is what it’s going to take from us to be successful. Hopefully, we can build on this.”

TV: 3 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (12-16-3): Pettersson scored his team-leading 14th goal on a penalty shot Thursday and has recorded four points in his last four games to give him 25 in his first 25 NHL contests. Bo Horvat tops the team with 27 points after registering a pair of goals and three assists over his last four games while defenseman Alex Edler has netted his first two tallies of the season in the same span. If Vancouver is going to make a run, it will have to improve on the power play as it is just 2-for-20 over its last seven contests.

ABOUT THE BLUES (10-13-4): Colton Parayko scored the only goal in Friday’s win and has recorded two in his last four games while captain and fellow defenseman Alex Pietrangelo may need surgery on his hand after missing the past three contests. Ryan O’Reilly leads the team in goals (12) and points (28) while Vladimir Tarasenko is next with 20 but has been kept off the scoresheet in three consecutive games. Allen has allowed four goals in his last three starts and has helped by a penalty-killing unit that is 11-for-11 in the team's last two contests.

OVERTIME

1. The Blues have won five in a row and eight of their last nine meetings with the Canucks.

2. Vancouver LW Loui Eriksson snapped his 10-game point drought with a goal on Thursday.

3. St. Louis C Tyler Bozak has gone 16 contests without a goal and 10 without a point.

PREDICTION: Blues 4, Canucks 3