Canucks eliminate defending champ Blues, advance to Round 2

The Vancouver Canucks eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues from the playoffs with a 6-2 victory in Game 6 of their series on Friday.

Canucks captain Bo Horvat is proud of what his team has accomplished so far this postseason, but he knows there's still hard work ahead.

"We need different guys to step up at different times, and we got that all series. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys," Horvat said. "We have a lot of confidence as a group and have a lot of guys who want to win. We got the job done in this series and we have a long road ahead."

Vancouver came ready to play in Game 6, with Jay Beagle taking advantage of a turnover early in the first period to put the Canucks ahead.

Antoine Roussel then managed to beat Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington just two minutes into the second frame to extend the lead. Things quickly took a turn for the worst for St. Louis when Vancouver potted goals from Troy Stecher and Brock Boeser. The Blues then opted to pull Binnington in favor of Jake Allen, who started the last three games of the series.

Blues forward Ryan O'Reilly defended Binnington after the netminder allowed four goals, putting the blame on the team in front of him.

"It’s disappointing, the way we played in front of him," O'Reilly said, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshysnki. "One of the reasons that we’re here is because of him, and we did a terrible job in front of him. It’s embarrassing."

Vancouver entered the third period with a large 4-0 cushion. Blues forward Jaden Schwartz netted two goals in the final minutes of the game, but the Canucks hung on for the win.

Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced, while Binnington allowed four goals on 18 shots, and Allen gave up one goal on six shots.

Vancouver will now take on the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2.