In Edmonton, Bo Horvat struck for two goals and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the St Louis Blues, 5-2, in Game 1 of their first round series on Wednesday night.
“You want to get up for the big games, you want to be a difference maker, especially at this time of year,” Horvat said. “You’re playing the Stanley Cup champs, it’s easy to get up for. These are the games you want to win.”
Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves to earn the win.
David Perron and Jaden Schwartz were the Blues’ scorers as St Louis had the game tied 2-2 in the middle frame.
“We didn’t think we were going to walk over anyone here,” Perron said. “They’re a good team. They played a good game. They have a good power play, obviously. We tried to match that. I thought the intensity and compete level was there. We talked about raising that. We didn’t enough, but it’s a good step.”
The Blues were winless in three games in the round robin tournament.
Elias Pettersson, Troy Stecher and J.T. Miller added single markers in the win for Vancouver.
“This series is not going to be easy,” Markstrom said. “It’s going to be really tough. St. Louis is a great team, and we have to count on them coming really hungry for Game 2, and we have to step up our game as well and grow and keep building on what we started.”
[WATCH: All Canucks vs. Blues Game 1 highlights]
Jordan Binnington made 17 saves in the loss.
“We know we have to be better in the third,” St. Louis’ Brayden Schenn said. “Obviously not good enough. We’ll find ways to continue to build and try and score some goals here. It’s not the result we wanted.”
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