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Saturday, Nov. 11 10:00pm ET
Demitra helps break tie in third | |||||
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Pavol Demitra picked a perfect time to score the two fastest goals of his career. Demitra scored twice in 25 seconds to give the St. Louis a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks and extend the Blues unbeaten streak to 10 games. Demitra's goals, at 12:48 and 13:13 of the third period, snapped a 2-2 tie and helped St. Louis improve to 11-2-3, the best start in franchise history. "I've never scored two goals in 25 seconds in my hockey life, Demitra said. "It's a great feeling because lately our line has been struggling to score and in just one shift I scored two goals." Demitra scored his first on a one-timer from the low slot that beat Felix Potvin high on the glove side. He added another on a breakaway after Michal Handzus found him behind the Vancouver defense with a lead pass from his own end. The Blues also got a strong performance from rookie goalie Brent Johnson, who stopped 27 shots to remain perfect in six starts. Johnson came in with a NHL best 1.00 goals-against average and has been a big part of the Blues fast start. "For a start as a rookie, you couldn't ask for anything better," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's big in the net, he's comfortable, he handles the puck well and he's gotten off to a good start." The Canucks (8-5-3-1) dropped consecutive games for the first time this season and have only one win in five games. "It came down to a couple of mistakes and it's tough when you almost go through a whole game and have it going in your favor and then all of a sudden it turns around quickly," Vancouver captain Markus Naslund said. "You can't make mistakes against top teams and even though I thought it was a good game from our side, we got nothing out of it and that is what counts." The Blues trailed 1-0 and 2-1 on goals by Matt Cooke and Brendan Morrison, but managed to climb back when Reid Simpson and Dallas Drake scored their first goals of the season. "With as much time left as there was, there was no reason to panic," Blues captain Chris Pronger said. "We just needed to hunker down and really focus on what we needed to do." After Cooke gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead early in the second period, Simpson tied it six minutes later with his first goal of the season. Simpson converted the rebound of Reid Low's high shot from just inside the blue line with a quick wrist shot through Potvin's legs. Drake tied it 2-2 with his first 5:12 into the third. Pierre Turgeon was falling to the ice when he slipped a perfect pass to Drake, who snapped a wrist shot past Potvin high on the glove side. Tyson Nash added his second late in the final period to round out the St. Louis scoring. The Canucks haven't beaten St. Louis since Dec. 15, 1996. The Blues are 13-0-1 since. "We just seem to have their number, for whatever reason," Pronger said. "Sometimes you struggle against teams and sometimes you play well and maybe win games that you shouldn't." Potvin stopped 25 of 29 shots for the Canucks, who lost for the third time in five games (1-3-1). Game notesRookie twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin had a new regular linemate for the first time since joining the Canucks in training camp. Peter Schaefer replaced Trent Klatt on the right side of the twins' line. ... With injuries to top defensemen Mattias Ohlund (eye) and Adrian Aucoin (groin), the Canucks again dressed only seven defensemen and just 11 forwards. ... Vancouver lost for the first time when scoring first (8-1-2). St. Louis won for the first time after falling behind 1-0 (1-2-3). | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard St. Louis Clubhouse Vancouver Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 4 Ottawa 3
St. Louis 5 AUDIO/VIDEO   Rookie goalie Brent Johnson robs Markus Naslund and Andrew Cassels on back-to-back saves.avi: 914 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||