Canucks: How they match up against the St. Louis Blues

VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 05: Ryan O’Reilly #90 of the St. Louis Blues looks to make a pass while pressured by J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks during NHL action at Rogers Arena on November 5, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

The Vancouver Canucks’ first round opponent is the St. Louis Blues. How do they match up against the defending champions?

The Vancouver Canucks will face last year’s Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues, in the first round of the 2020 playoffs.

The two teams met three times in the regular season, with Vancouver winning two of the matchups (one in a shootout, the other in regulation). This marks the first playoff showdown between the two clubs series 2009, when Vancouver swept St. Louis in the first round.

Without a doubt, it’s going to be an interesting series. But how do the Canucks match up against the defending champions?

A look at the Blues

St. Louis was atop of the Central Division when the NHL season was put on pause. They had a 42-19-10. record and placed 11th in goals for (225) and sixth in goals against (193). The Blues won eight of their last ten games before the season was suspended. St.Louis was third on the power play and 18th on the penalty kill.

#Canucks vs Blues rankings during regular season:

Goals for: VAN (8), STL (14)
Goals against: STL (5), VAN (19)
PP%: STL (3), VAN (4)
PK%: VAN (16), STL (18)
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) August 9, 2020

They lost all three of their round robin games, thus falling down to the No. 4 seed.

Blues players to watch

Last year’s Conn Smythe winner, Ryan O’Reilly, led the Blues in scoring in the regular season with 61 points. He is poised to have another strong series, and the Canucks have to account for his elite two-way game.

Alex Pietrangelo had another productive regular season with with 16 goals and 52 points. He has established himself as an elite two-way defender, and the Canucks must find a way to get past him while neutralizing his offensive production.

Goalie Jordan Binnington finished second in Calder Trophy voting behind Elias Pettersson last year. And Binnington let the hockey world know how he felt about losing the Calder Trophy to ‘Petey’.

All of that aside, Binnington had a strong regular season overall. He won 30 games and had a .912 save percentage to go along with a 2.56 goals against average. If he plays like he did in last year’s postseason, the Canucks will have it tough.