The Blues had a reunion of sorts with the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, teams that met in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last April.

Suffice to say, the Blues enjoyed the re-acquaintance. Winless in five games, and seemingly clueless on offense, the home team scored early and often in dispatching their nemesis of last spring in convincing 6-1 fashion at Scottrade Center.

Seems ironic the Blues would break their recent slump against a Vancouver club that swept them from last season's playoffs in four fruitless games. Then again, the adversaries reached the postseason stage by being among the league's best second-half teams. They have not been among the best first-half teams in 2009-2010. So what gives?

"Look at the league, look at Carolina, look at Phoenix, look at Los Angeles, look at how much these teams have improved," Murray said. "That's what's different."

The rosters have not undergone dramatic changes, although the Canucks have injuries to key personnel, such as goaltender Roberto Luongo and forward Daniel Sedin. A central figure in the "Snowgate" controversy — in which the Canucks insisted the Blues were purposefully showering their star netminder with ice shavings — Luongo limited the Blues to five goals in those four playoff games.

On Tuesday, recovering from a fractured rib, the Vancouver captain was in a backup role. Meanwhile, his second, Andrew Raycroft, stood in against an offense that had produced just four goals in five games. Who would have thought Raycroft would be fishing four pucks out of his net in roughly 7½ minutes? Who would have thought Luongo would be starting the second period?

Andy McDonald snapped the Blues from their offensive coma with a goal 18 seconds into the game. A little more than five minutes later, David

Perron tipped a Brad Boyes shot past Raycroft to make it 2-0 less than six minutes in.

Erik Johnson made it 3-0 one minute 11 seconds later with his first goal in two seasons. Johnson adeptly moved in from the right point and caromed a shot off a Vancouver defenseman into the net. Johnson missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Less than a minute later, Perron got his own rebound and ripped a shot over Raycroft's shoulder to make it 4-0 in 7:36 of clock time. Before the game was over, Perron would have his first NHL hat trick.

The four-goal outburst in the first period just missed being the fastest four scores in team history. The Note notched four goals in 6:41 against Vancouver in February 1973. At the same time, the current squad had gone seven games without scoring even one goal in the first period.

Luongo missed two weeks with his injury, but when the teams returned for the second period, he was missing no more. Blues triggerman Boyes made sure Luongo felt welcome by blasting home a power-play goal to make it 5-0 late in the second. The point was the fourth of the evening for Boyes, was his third goal of the season and first since he scored into an open net on Oct. 23.

By then, many among the crowd of Blue-bleeders had to be rubbing their eyes, disbelieving what they were witnessing. This was a different-looking team, but this has been a different season. The Blues have gone from an up-and-coming NHL presence to a team groping for footing, looking for keys to unlock a stagnant offense, searching for the second-half magic of last spring. The swoon had included three consecutive losses in overtime, two by shootout.

And yet, the Blues were getting to overtime, inching closer to paydays, skating on the edge of something more substantial. Murray has attempted to nudge the process with a number of recent line changes, including the assignment of Paul Kariya to the "defensive stopper" line with Jay McClement and B.J. Crombeen.

Kariya has responded with his best hockey of the season, and he has seen signs of Tuesday's win coming. "There's no easy games in the league now, and it hasn't come very easy for us," said Kariya, who had five shots in the first two periods. "You have to earn it.

"As an offensive player, when things aren't going well, you have to look at offensive opportunities. If the chances aren't coming, then you're really doing something wrong. If they are, then things are going to come around.''

Another line alteration helped produce a harvest against Vancouver. Playing in his 500th career game, McDonald was between Boyes and Perron. That combo clicked for 10 points.

In between all the offensive fireworks was some spirited pugilism, perhaps payback residue from the physical postseason series. The fights included a marathon battle between Cam Janssen and Tanner Glass, as well as two bouts between Crombeen and Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieska. A fatigued Janssen still accommodated Darcy Hordichuk late in the third period and floored the visitor with a left hand.

The ensuing power play allowed Perron to get his first NHL hat trick, as he tipped Johnson's shot past Luongo to conclude the scoring with 4:07 remaining. The goal was a team-leading seventh for Perron.