VANCOUVER -- Comfortable.

When you are the St. Louis Blues, and your opponent’s Game 1 win is aptly described as "comfortable," you’ve got problems.

After a 2-1 Canucks victory in the opener, one fact has emerged as indisputable: If this series is going to play out this cozy for the Vancouver Canucks, the St. Louis Blues won’t be back here for Game 5.

Two goals have never been enough for the Vancouver Canucks to win in the playoffs. OK, maybe "never" is too strong a word. But in Game 1 at GM Place Wednesday, the Canucks got a pair of goals and then sat back and dared the Blues to score two of their own.

St. Louis barely had two decent scoring chances the rest of the way.

"That’s the way we have to play," said Daniel Sedin, who had a goal and an assist, just the scrap short of a Gordie Howe hat trick. "We learned at the end of the season how to play, how to close out games.

"This is the way it is going to be. There are not going to be a whole lot of goals throughout this series."

This is the new Canuck speak, and the rest of the National Hockey League had better beware.

They embrace defensive play now, and with three points the Sedins — at least for one game — looked very much like first-line producers in their second crack at the post-season since emerging as top line players in Vancouver.

The Sedins were left untouched by the Blues, racking up one more point between them in 40 minutes than the two points the Anaheim Ducks had allowed them in an entire five-game series two springs ago.

They are better, and the Canucks are better. That left the Blues, who charged into the playoffs at 9-1-1, only to mutter about their power play, which blew a lengthy 5-on-3 chance and went 1-for-7 on the night.

It’s true — they are going to need a better power play. Especially if they allow Vancouver to own the 5-on-5 minutes the way they did for the final 40 minutes of Game 1.

"That wasn’t our best game. We’ll get better," promised Andy McDonald.

"That’s only one game. There are six games left in this series," said Keith Tkachuk, who mustered just one shot on net in 17:33 of ice time. "On the 5-on-3, you’ve got to find a way to score — no question. We’ll find a way. It’s a long series."

Or so the Blues hope, as their band of traveling playoff rookies skipped into GM Place to find a weathered and experienced Canucks team that looks anything but ripe to be upset.

Not only does Vancouver have one of the best goalies in the world in their crease, but with a paucity of decent scoring chances like the Blues had in Game 1, it’s Easy Street for Roberto Luongo.

"They obviously did a great job. You can’t take it away from them," said Tkachuk, whose club entered the third period trailing 2-1 and was promptly out-shot 15-6 in the final frame.

There was much squawking about the officiating, which seemed fine. Though don’t tell that to Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, who like any good hockey coach, found something to complain about, even in victory.

"I’m a little confused right now (about the officiating). I’ll talk to who I need to talk to (Thursday)," Vigneault said. "So, you can go into Luongo’s crease three or four times? Spray him and go through his crease?"

It was rare evidence of the Blues competing — aye, maybe even playing a little dirty pool — that was not evident on nearly enough occasions Wednesday night if the No. 6 seed has any intentions of upsetting a superior division champion in Vancouver.

But there has to be more from St. Louis. Much, much more.

"I was very encouraged by that game tonight," said Blues head coach Andy Murray, who has always been a glass-half-full guy. "To me, this game was about encouragement, not discouragement. We lost 2-1 — we’ve got to play better. But we are very capable of playing better."

That’s the solace for Murray: His team CAN play better.

It had better start soon, if St. Louis has a prayer of getting their split in Vancouver.