Opening 7-game trip, hot Canucks battle uneven Blues

After getting into high gear offensively, the Vancouver Canucks are embarking on a seven-game road swing, their longest of the season.

Their first stop is St. Louis to face the Blues on Thursday night.

The Canucks are 8-1-2 in their last 11 and have scored four or more goals seven times during that span.

They are coming off a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators that saw them score five times in the first period.

"Probably one of our best periods in about a month. It was awesome," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "Just everything -- just aggressive, tracking, not too many mistakes. Everybody was really connected."

But Tocchet was vexed by his team's defensive performance in the latter two periods after breaking out to the big lead.

"We didn't play the right way," Tocchet said. "Take the two points, but it's a learning lesson for us. I did not like the (final) 40. I hope the guys didn't. Loved our first period. That's my assessment."

The Canucks blanked the Blues 5-0 in their previous meeting Oct. 27. Thatcher Demko earned the 22-save shutout and Vancouver got big games from top point producers Quinn Hughes (two goals), J.T. Miller (goal, two assists) and Elias Pettersson (two assists).

Hughes has a goal and six assists during his current five-game point streak. Pettersson had four goals and three assists during his last seven games and Miller has three goals and 17 assists in his last 16 games.

The Blues bring a two-game losing streak into the matchup. They suffered a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh Saturday with an uneven effort.

"We didn't get much flow going, we didn't shoot many pucks," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "I thought the first, we had the puck, we could have shot more. I thought in the third, we started to shoot more pucks. Missed them by a couple inches. I don't know how many crossbars or posts we hit in the third, but it was a few.

But Bannister noted it was more than bad luck which cost them against the Penguins.

"We can't make those mistakes in the neutral zone, we can't take those penalties," he said. "The margin of error is too small, and we've got to be better in those areas."

The Blues will likely play the Canucks without defenseman Justin Faulk, who suffered a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. He has been replaced by AHL call-up Matt Kessel.

The Blues also recalled forward Nathan Walker from the AHL, where he scored 29 points in 30 games. Bannister plugged him into the fourth line.

"I think we have to find a way to get secondary scoring, and I think bringing him up is going to give us an opportunity to use him in those situations," Bannister said. "He plays a direct game. He's quick; he's going to help out on our forecheck. He's going to help out recovering pucks, all things right now that are lacking a little bit in our game that we have to get better in."

The Canucks will be without forward Phillip Di Giuseppe, who suffered a lower-body injury against the Senators. Forward Linus Karlsson was recalled Wednesday to fill Di Guiseppe's spot.