VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- When it comes to scoring goals, it's not often that Dave Ellett overshadows All-Star defenseman Al MacInnis.

But that's what happened Thursday night as Ellett scored his first goal in more than two years in lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

	St. Louis goalie Roman Turek faced only 21 shots Thursday, thanks to strong defensive help from the likes of Jeff Finley.

MacInnis, meanwhile, logged more than 20 minutes of ice time but was held off the scoresheet in his first game back after missing five games because of a collapsed right lung.

The lack of points didn't matter to MacInnis, who said he felt comfortable and is making plans to participate in his 11th All-Star game this weekend in Toronto.

"I had no problems," said MacInnis. "Coming back tonight, there wasn't any rush to see if I could play on the weekend. This was a time-frame the doctor put on it, and he saw no reason for me not to play. ... If they give you the green light, you've got to play. And I wanted to play."

Ellett proved to be the story as his goal -- his first in 123 games going back to Dec. 28, 1997 -- snapped a 2-2 tie with 7:58 left in the second period.

"I almost forgot how to celebrate," said Ellett.

Laughing, Ellett said that he had predicted he would score.

"It's been so long since I scored a goal, I was sitting there and talking to (Marc) Bergevin, saying, 'You know what, I think I've got one tonight.' And the next shift, I got out there and the puck went in."

Then again, Ellett added, "I've been calling it for 123 games, finally it worked."

Mike Eastwood, Lubos Bartecko, Stephane Richer and Marty Reasoner also scored as the Blues won their fifth straight and assured themselves of first place in the Western Conference going into this weekend's NHL All-Star break. The win also marked the Blues' 12th straight against Vancouver, a string that dates back to Dec. 15, 1996.

Over that stretch, the Blues have defeated the Canucks seven straight times in Vancouver and, have outscored them 55-16 overall.

The Blues also continued their domination over Canadian-based franchises this season, improving to 13-0-2.

Peter Schaefer and Adrian Aucoin scored for the Canucks, who lost their third straight and are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games.

With the Blues trailing 2-1, Richer scored after being set up alone in the slot by Eastwood's pass 3:19 into the second period.

Ellett then scored on a bit of a fluke nine minutes later. Just as a Vancouver penalty came to an end, Ellett slapped a rolling puck at the net from the left circle. The shot bounced off the post and, while the puck was stopped in the crease for a moment, was accidentally kicked over the line by Canucks goalie Garth Snow.

Eastwood's shorthanded goal 22 seconds into the third period made it 4-2 and deflated the Canucks, who are now 2-17-1 when trailing after two periods.

Canucks coach Marc Crawford doesn't know what to make of his team, which was coming off a hard-fought effort in Tuesday's 2-1 loss at Colorado.

"It's tough to keep your chin up when you keep getting it smacked," said Crawford. "That's what it feels like tonight. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times tonight. One of the areas where we really have to continue to try to improve is that we can't give up the big chance."

Three of the Blues' five goals, including Eastwood's short-handed tally, came on odd-man breaks.

"We seized up a little bit and that's a sign of inexperience and a group that's got a long way to go in terms of learning how to play when the game is on the line," said Crawford.

Blues coach Joel Quenneville couldn't pinpoint why his club has been so dominant over Vancouver.

"It's a fluky stat. We'll take it, but at the same time, there's no rhyme or reason. It's just one of those funny stats," said Quenneville.