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ST. LOUIS - Roberto Luongo carried the Vancouver Canucks for two games. Their special teams helped them take a 3-0 series lead against the St. Louis Blues.
The Canucks scored three power-play goals, including Steve Bernier’s go-ahead score early in the third period, while again stifling the Blues’ chances with the man advantage in a 3-2 victory Sunday night.
“It was a huge difference,” Luongo said. “We got some big goals and we killed some big ones off.”
Vancouver, the third seed in the Western Conference, silenced a standing-room crowd of 19,500 for the Blues’ first home playoff game in five seasons. The Canucks can finish off the sixth-seeded Blues in Game 4 on Tuesday night in St. Louis, but were far from cocky about the possibility of a sweep.
“It’s 3-0 and I think we still have to get to four,” Luongo said. “So we’ve got a big one left to win and by no means are we going to think it’s over.
“Those guys are not going to quit and we’ve got to make sure we bear down.”
Coach Alain Vigneault said the Canucks got to this point by turning the other cheek instead of retaliating.
“Our guys have been taking a lot of cheap shots so far during this series,” Vigneault said. “To respond with three goals on the power play is pretty satisfying.”
Andy McDonald, frequently frustrated by Luongo the first two games, finally broke through to tie it at 2 in the second period for the Blues, and added an assist. But St. Louis was shut out on six power plays, especially squandering early chances to seize control, and is 1-for-17 in the series.
“We look tight and nervous on the power play,” coach Andy Murray said. “We’ve had over 5 minutes of 5-on-3 in this series and really have not been the threat that we want to be. We probably had four or five good chances on the 5-on-3, but that’s not good enough against this goaltender.”
Mattias Ohlund and Daniel Sedin also scored power-play goals for the Canucks, who were strong the last two periods after mustering five shots and trailing 1-0 after the first. And Luongo, who allowed one goal on 56 shots the first two games, made 24 saves and was good enough even if he wasn’t the star that prompted a fans’ “LuonGO Home” sign.
The go-ahead goal was a bit of a fluke, keyed by Sami Salo’s wide shot from the point that took a lively bounce off the end boards and right to Henrik Sedin, who redirected the puck to Bernier alone in front of the net for an easy tap-in at 41 seconds of the third. Bernier scored his second career playoff goal in 26 games.
“I just had to put it in,” Bernier said. “A great feeling. It was nice execution by everybody.”
The Blues’ B.J. Crombeen was whistled for roughing at the end of the second period after charging into a scrum, putting his team at a disadvantage when play resumed.
“It’s my own stupidity that put us down and ended up costing us the game,” Crombeen said. “I didn’t control my emotions enough.”
The Canucks also capitalized on the Blues’ lack of discipline at the start of the second period, scoring a pair of power-play goals in a span of 2:25 to take their first lead.
Murray used his timeout after Ohlund’s shot from the right point squirted between Chris Mason’s pads at 7:53. But Jay McClement was whistled for holding the stick about a half-minute later, his second straight trip to the penalty box, and Daniel Sedin poked in the go-ahead goal just before a flailing Mason could glove the puck at 10:18.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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