VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 14 (UPI) -- In a wide-open, very physical contest Thursday night, the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 4-4 overtime tie with the St. Louis Blues.
Brad May, reacquired from Phoenix at Tuesday's NHL trade deadline, sent Keith Tkachuk to the locker room with a wrist injury after leveling the Blues star left wing in the first period. It set the tone for a physical battle between two of the top five teams in the Western Conference.
May fought Bryce Salvador and Reed Low before the period was over, and totaled 10 penalty minutes in his first game for Vancouver since the 1998-99 season.
Pavol Demitra and Eric Boguniecki scored in a 91-second span early in the second period to give the Blues a 4-2 lead, but defenseman Marek Malik set up the first goal by Daniel Sedin in 16 games, and got the equalizer with 8:04 to go in the period.
After totaling 14 shots through regulation, the Canucks took six in a free-wheeling overtime that featured several odd-man rushes.
Brendan Morrison also had a goal and an assist for Vancouver, which moved one point ahead of Detroit into second place in the Western Conference.
St. Louis fell two points behind fourth-place Colorado for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
