J.T. Miller scored a pair of second-period goals as the Vancouver Canucks fought back from an early deficit to defeat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 Monday night.
Bo Horvat also scored into an empty net for the Canucks (28-18-4) who won for the 12th time in 15 games and extended their home winning streak to nine games. Jake Virtanen and Chris Tanev each had two assists.
Zach Sanford scored for the Blues (30-12-8), who saw their winless streak extended to three games (0-2-1).
Miller has 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 50 games this season. That’s better than the 47 points, including 13 goals, he had in 75 games with Tampa Bay last year.
Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko, making his second straight start and fourth in the last 20 games, stopped 36 shots.
St. Louis goalie Jake Allen made 22 saves.
The Canucks remain first in the Pacific Division with 60 points, three more than Edmonton, Calgary, Arizona and Vegas.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Blues lead the Western Conference with 68 points.
Demko dominance
With the Blues pushing for the tying goal in the third period Demko made a huge left pad save on Jaden Schwartz. He later blocked Sanford on the short side.
Miller’s first goal tied the game 1-1 at 2:16 of the second. Virtanen won a puck battle along the boards, then passed to Tanev, who fed an open Miller in the slot before he rifled a low, hard shot.
Vancouver went ahead 2-1 at 11:12 on a 3-on-1 break. Elias Pettersson carried the puck into the St. Louis zone, slid the puck to Virtanen, who then passed to Miller. He scored from the face-off circle.
The Blues took advantage of a turnover to open the scoring at 3:06 of the first period after rookie defenceman Quinn Hughes coughed up the puck in his own zone. David Perron took it, swooped behind the net, then passed to Sanford who scored his fifth of the season.
Vancouver had a couple of good chances to tie the game. Horvat forced a turnover, then had a breakaway but was stopped by Allen. Virtanen had the crowd buzzing after ringing a shot off the post.