EDMONTON, Alberta _ Higher stakes. Same result.
The Edmonton funk continues for the St. Louis Blues, losing Wednesday for the fifth time in five tries in their hub city, this time 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks.
Memo to the Blues: There's no time like the present to get going. The four prior losses, one in overtime, came in an exhibition game and three relatively meaningless round-robin contests. But Wednesday at Rogers Place, the playoffs started for the Blues _ Game 1 of the best-of-7 Western Conference quarterfinals.
You can debate all you want whether they were biding their time in the round-robin, or if the "on" switch would be activated once the "real" games began. But they are off on the wrong foot _ or skate, if you will _ against what looks like an up-and-coming Vancouver squad.
It has been a long wait for the Blues to play meaningful hockey _ five months and one day since they defeated Anaheim 4-2 on March 11. Hockey was shut down the next day due to the coronavirus pandemic. Until Wednesday's series opener, they had played only four games in 18 days in Edmonton.
"I think we're past the hard part," captain Alex Pietrangelo said Tuesday. "It feels like forever. It's not easy mentally. But I think once the games get going, we'll be a little bit better. Minds will be real dialed in here.
"We've had a lot of down time in this qualifying time. They gave us probably a little too much time to sit around. I think we're excited to finally get this going and get on schedule."
Not excited enough apparently.
The Blues scored first in all four previous games here entering Wednesday's contest, and lost all four. So maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world when Vancouver scored first _ on a power play goal at the 4:29 mark of the opening period at Rogers Place.
With Justin Faulk in the box for slashing Brandon Sutter on a breakaway attempt, it took the league's fourth-ranked power play just 12 seconds to get on the board. Calder Trophy finalist Quinn Hughes sent the puck from near the left wall between two Blues defenders to Bo Horvat.
Horvat, who tied for sixth in the NHL in power play goals with 12 during the regular season, seemed to surprise Jordan Binnington with his one-timer from the slot. So it was 1-0 Vancouver.
But late in the period, when Vancouver's Antoine Roussel was sent off for slashing Oskar Sundqvist, the Blues had a chance to take their third-ranked power play out for a stroll. It took the Blues a modest 39 seconds into their power play to tie things at 1-all on David Perron's third goal in the postseason.
(He had two in round-robin play.)
Also noteworthy on the power play: for the first time here in the Edmonton hub, Vladimir Tarasenko was on the first unit, replacing Jaden Schwartz.
There was no doubt the Blues had their playoff faces on Wednesday, dialing up the intensity and the forecheck. They were definitely a more focused team from the outset. But one bad habit that carried over from round-robin play was penalties.
The Blues averaged nearly six penalties per game in the round-robin, much to the chagrin of coach Craig Berube. They were creeping close to that total before the end of the second period. Over a nine-minute stretch from the end of the first period into the second period, three Blues spent time in the penalty box.
Elias Pettersson, the 2019 Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year, made them pay after Brayden Schenn went off for tripping at the 7:43 mark of the second. Pettersson swooped in on a rebound, falling to the ice as he shot into a lot of open net for a 2-1 Canucks lead.
Once again, the Blues had the answer _ this time with the game's first 5-on-5 goal. Schwartz pounced on a loose puck near the Vancouver blueline and raced down the ice on a breakaway. The Canucks might have caught him but Hughes collided with a teammate in pursuit, giving Schwartz clear sailing toward goalie Jacob Markstrom.
With a dazzling display of stickwork, Schwartz stuck a backhand between Markstrom's legs, tying it at 2-all midway through the second period.
The Blues came out with purpose to start the third period, winning most of the puck battles and dominating possession time. But a careless sequence in their own zone in which they couldn't clear the puck led to the go-ahead goal by Troy Stecher _ a goal that Binnington would like to have back.
Stecher, a defenseman who has scored only 11 times in 286 games, sent a routine shot from near the right wall, from distance. But it got by Binnington for a 3-2 Canucks lead at the 5:37 mark of the third.
Less than 2 { minutes later, it became a 4-2 Vancouver lead when Horvat scored his second of the night, deking his way past Vince Dunn and beating Binnington far side at the 8:01 mark.
Including the three round-robin games, that meant the Blues had been outscored 8-0 in the third period in Edmonton. It became 9-0 when J.T. Miller scored a power-play goal with 39 seconds remaining.
The Blues were without Sammy Blais (lower-body injury) and Ivan Barbashev. In addition Alexander Steen was a surprise scratch. Jacob de la Rose saw his first action in Edmonton.
Game 2 of the series is Friday.
