Perron has hat trick, paces Blues' rout of Canucks

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues believed they were due for a
breakout game at home. Andy McDonald, Brad Boyes and David
Perron paved the way for an offensive outburst.

The trio combined for 10 points, with Perron recording his first
NHL hat trick, Boyes netting a goal and three assists, and
McDonald contributing a goal and two assists in his 500th career
game.

It added up to St. Louis’ 6-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks
on Tuesday night.

The Blues, who were 1-5-1 in their first seven home games,
scored four times in the first 7:36 – including Perron’s two
goals in a span of 1:54.

“We hadn’t played real well at home,” said Boyes, who nearly
matched his season total of six points. “It was a tough building
to play in last year. We’ve got to get that way again. This was
a good way to get going.”

Erik Johnson also scored, and Chris Mason made 22 saves for the
Blues.

“We wanted to be good early, and that was the message,” Blues
coach Andy Murray said. “Tonight, we were good early.”

The Canucks, who had won three of four, got a third-period goal
from Henrik Sedin.

“They beat us to loose pucks, they were the better team 1-on-1
and they had better chances obviously,” Canucks coach Alain
Vigneault said of the Blues. “They played real well. That team
came out real hard. Their execution was real good and they took
it to us real hard in the first period. They had some quality
chances and they buried them.”

Andrew Raycroft, who had been 4-1 with a 1.60 goals-against
average while No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo was injured, allowed
four goals on 13 shots before being replaced after the first
period.

“Obviously it was a tough first period,” Raycroft said. “Four
goals in eight minutes is not good enough.”

Luongo then made his first appearance since Oct. 27, when he
broke a rib. He was not expected to play until Thursday in
Detroit.

“That’s the only positive thing,” Luongo said. “I got some
minutes, but it’s tough. You don’t want to come in situations
like that.”

McDonald scored 18 seconds into the game, beating Raycroft with
a wrister from the slot after a drop pass by Boyes. Perron’s
deflection in the slot of Boyes’ shot from the top of the left
circle at 5:42 made it 2-0.

“We came out pretty hard,” McDonald said. “We generated a lot of
chances in the first. It’s something we’ve failed to do in the
past. We’ve been struggling to score goals, so it was nice to be
able to come out and jump on them a little bit and get everybody
rolling.”

Johnson, who missed last season due to a knee injury, scored his
first goal since March 28, 2008, when his feed into the slot
deflected into the net off Canucks winger Matt Pettinger’s skate
at 6:53.

Perron netted his sixth of the season by sending in a wrist shot
from the right circle at 7:36, giving the Blues a 4-0 lead.

Boyes’ third of the season came on the power play, a one-timer
from the left circle off a feed from McDonald past Luongo at
18:45 of the second period.

Sedin broke Mason’s shutout bid 1:02 into the third when his
backhander trickled over Mason and across the goal line after
the goalie was picked by Ryan Kesler behind the net.

Perron completed his hat trick when he deflected in Johnson’s
shot 15:53 into the third.

“It’s always good to get a goal, and it’s even better to get
two, and even better to get three,” Perron said. “The most
important thing was we got a lot of shots. We got some goals,
finally, so it felt good.”

NOTES: It was the first meeting between the teams since the
Canucks swept the Blues in the first round of the playoffs last
season. … The Blues’ four goals in the first 10 minutes marked
the third time they’ve accomplished such a feat. The team record
for quickest four goals at the start of a game is 6:41 set on
Feb. 6, 1973, against the Canucks. … Vancouver LW Daniel Sedin
(broken foot) was on the ice Tuesday morning but didn’t play.
Sedin, sidelined since Oct. 10, could be in the lineup Thursday
at Detroit. … Blues LW B.J. Crombeen and Canucks D Kevin
Bieksa fought each other twice. … The Blues are 3 for 35 on
the power play in eight home games after going 2 for 7 Tuesday.

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