Arizona Coyotes jump on Blues with 4 goals in 3rd period to snap skid
Mar 7, 2023, 10:52 PM | Updated: 10:57 pm
TEMPE — The Arizona Coyotes scored four goals in the third period to bury the St. Louis Blues 6-2 at Mullett Arena on Tuesday night.
The win was Arizona’s (54 points) first since the trade deadline, as it snapped a three-game losing streak.
“Great game by a lot of guys tonight,” forward Christian Fischer said postgame. “This is our team moving forward for the next 20 games or so. We’ve done a good job of sticking together, playing really well, especially at home.”
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Head coach Andre Tourigny said the turning point of the game was one of 40 saves made by goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who fought off scoring chance after scoring chance early on.
In the second period, Vejmelka turned away a two-on-none breakaway for St. Louis (59 points) with a glove save. Nearly six minutes later, Arizona took a 2-1 lead after Nick Schmaltz scored his fifth goal against the Blues over their last three matchups.
Thru two periods, Karel Vejmelka has stopped 22-of-23 St. Louis shots, including robbing Robert Thomas on this 2-on-0.
— Arizona Coyotes PR (@AZCoyotesPR) March 8, 2023
“I think that was a momentum changer for both teams,” Tourigny said. “It killed them a little and gave us energy. He’s rock solid.”
Arizona went into the third period up 2-1, and Travis Boyd quickly scored on a backhand from a Clayton Keller assist.
Boyd picked up two goals on Tuesday to reach 100 career points, something he said seven-year-old Boyd would have “freakin’ loved.”
BOYD BACKHANDER 🚨 pic.twitter.com/3kXVkC62Lt
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 8, 2023
His second score at 10:59 started a stretch of three Arizona goals within seven minutes that put the game firmly out of reach.
Keller produced the fifth score, and Lawson Crouse put in the final goal of the night, his career-high 21st of the year. Arizona’s four goals tied its season high for most in a period.
Tourigny pointed out that Tuesday’s effort was not perfect, but he was happy with a lot of what transpired.
St. Louis created chances early and scored the first goal of the game at 2:12 in the opening period. Fischer scored at 12:53 in the period to tie it at 1-1, and the Coyotes did not trail again.
Arizona killed six power plays on the evening, as well.
The Coyotes made several significant moves at the deadline, moving off Jakob Chychrun, Nick Bjugstad and Nick Ritchie among others. Boyd said it’s difficult to see so many teammates go, but he praised the team’s ability to step up.
“All we can do is stay close and stay together as a group of guys,” Boyd said. “We lost a lot of good players, but we have a next-man-up mentality. … Hopefully we can continue to play well down the stretch.”
Arizona has won two of three against the Blues this year and are creeping up on St. Louis in the division standings.
The Coyotes will host the Nashville Predators on Thursday at 7 p.m.
