ARIZONA COYOTES

Arizona Coyotes fail to stop streaking St. Louis Blues

Feb 14, 2019, 10:29 PM

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper tries to get back up after being hit on the helmet by St. ...

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper tries to get back up after being hit on the helmet by St. Louis Blues' Alexander Steen during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. The Blues won 4-0. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes could’ve won their third straight on Thursday. They could’ve ended the St. Louis Blues’ seven-game win streak.

They instead lost 4-0 and fell to 25-27-5 on the season.

“Look at our record,” head coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’re three or four games under .500 and we’re above .500 on the road. … If you want to make the playoffs, you’ve got to have a really good home record.”

With its win, St. Louis graduated from the Western Conference wild card lead and into third place in the Central Division. Arizona is four points back of the Wild Card’s second place team, Minnesota, with 55 points.

“They’ve been probably the hottest team in the NHL as of late,” Brad Richardson said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but one we should’ve been very ready for. Obviously it was a big matchup in the standings. We didn’t play very good in the first. So I think you get down and then they didn’t give us much. We couldn’t really generate much until the end of the game. But too little, too late.”

Thursday marked Arizona’s sixth loss in the last eight games.

The Coyotes came out slow in the first period and allowed two goals, then one more each in the second and third periods to fall 4-0. Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals.

“We were sloppy early. And then we gave them the two-goal lead,” Tocchet said. “And then they just locked it down. They just kind of sat back and, big team, we didn’t really penetrate much. Push in the second a little bit, we had some chances. … It seemed like every shot they had, they scored.”

Arizona’s power play went 0-for-3.

“We got a power play and had a chance to get back in the game, but couldn’t really get anything out of it,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “I thought we kind of moved the puck around pretty good. But it’s hard to score when you don’t shoot the puck. Overall, I don’t think it was good enough. We didn’t come up ready and that’s when you get behind.”

Rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington got the win for the Blues on Valentine’s Day, starting in what was the 16th game of his NHL career. He is 11-1-1 this season. He made 21 saves. Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots.

“They defend really well, as we saw tonight,” Kuemper said. “Going down 2-0, really tough team to come back on. They did a great job of shutting down. We kept battling, we just couldn’t get back into it.”

Arizona hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs next, going up against a team that boasts heavy offensive firepower and has the second-highest goal differential in the NHL (41) behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (70).

Thursday night’s game saw the return of Richardson, who played for the first time since Jan. 10 after suffering a hand injury. He played 13:30 with 1:29 on the penalty kill, registering two shots on goal and going 54 percent in the faceoff circle.

“You’re just trying to get back in there. It’s never easy,” Richardson said. “I’ve been skating for a month straight but it’s never easy when you’re getting back into game pace this time of year. So you’re just trying to get back in it. After the first, I felt pretty good. I’m still not where I want to be but hopefully in the next few games I get back up to speed.”

Arizona Coyotes

Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller...

Associated Press

Clayton Keller becomes 2nd Coyotes player with 400 points in win over Devils

Karel Vejmelka stopped 37 shots and the Arizona Coyotes beat the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

2 days ago

Arizona Coyotes center Logan Cooley, right, is greeted by defenseman Travis Dermott (33) after scor...

Associated Press

Arizona Coyotes beat struggling Detroit Red Wings again

Logan Cooley had a short-handed goal in the first period, Michael Carcone broke a tie in the second and the Coyotes beat the Red Wings 4-1.

4 days ago

Arizona Coyotes CEO and president Xavier Gutierrez...

Associated Press

Arizona Coyotes cleared to bid on north Phoenix land for new arena

The Arizona Coyotes have the green light to bid on a tract of land in north Phoenix in their yearslong bid to build a new arena.

5 days ago

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown, left, and Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi (23) compete for...

Associated Press

Penalty kill falters again, Coyotes lose to the Minnesota Wild

Nick Bjugstad had another goal against his hometown team but the Coyotes penalty kill couldn't contain the Minnesota Wild in a road loss.

6 days ago

Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller...

Associated Press

Coyotes’ Clayton Keller scores twice in loss to Blackhawks, Colin Blackwell delivers hat trick

Colin Blackwell got his first hat trick and Connor Bedard had two goals, leading the Blackhawks to a victory over the Coyotes.

8 days ago

Dylan Guenther #11 of the Arizona Coyotes warms up before the NHL game against the Boston Bruins at...

David Veenstra

Arizona Coyotes’ Dylan Guenther has water turned off after he doesn’t pay utility bill

Arizona Coyotes' Dylan Guenther and teammate Jack McBain had their water turned off this week after they did not pay their utility bill.

10 days ago

Arizona Coyotes fail to stop streaking St. Louis Blues