Canucks send champs Blues crashing out of playoffs

LOS ANGELES: Five players scored and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Vancouver Canucks on Friday in a 6-2 victory that eliminated the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues from the NHL playoffs.

The win in the league’s Western Conference hub in Edmonton gave the Canucks a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven series and a second-round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s the first time the Canucks have made it out of the first round since 2011, when they lost to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final.

In Toronto, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 to complete a 4-2 Eastern Conference series win and line up a meeting with the New York Islanders. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 18 shots before he was pulled in the second period and replaced by Jake Allen, who made five saves.

Jay Beagle gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead 3:45 into the first period with a shot from the slot. Antoine Roussel made it 2-0 at 2:09 of the second after a turnover by Vince Dunn. Troy Stecher’s one-timer extended the lead to 3-0 at 6:49, and Brock Boeser beat Binnington short side with a one-timer on the power play to make it 4-0 at 8:06.

Jaden Schwartz cut it to 4-1 at 6:32 of the third, but Tyler Motte scored on a 2-on-1 to make it 5-1 at 13:19. Schwartz scored again at 18:38 with Allen pulled for the extra skater to make it 5-2 before Motte found the empty net to cap the scoring.