Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz on Thursday each had a goal and an assist, sparking the Arizona Coyotes to a 6-2 victory over the St Louis Blues.
“I think they work extremely hard. Today, they had their execution,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said about Keller and Schmaltz. “I don’t think they had that since the beginning of the season. They weren’t connecting like they did tonight. They connected and they made plays. They were good.”
Nick Bjugstad, Jason Zuker and Sean Durzi scored on the power play for the Coyotes, while Michael Carcone also added a goal as the Coyotes finished their season-opening road trip 2-2-0.
Photo: Jeff Curry-USA Today
“I think we’re a young team and we’re learning from our experiences” Carcone said. “To go .500 on the road and play those New York teams and St Louis, they’re all good teams, right? So we’re finding our way and I like what I’ve seen.”
Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais scored for St Louis, who slipped to 1-1-1 with the regulation loss after going to shootouts in their first two games.
“It’s sloppy, it’s ugly. It’s ugly hockey. It looks lazy,” Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said. “There’s going to be nights where you’re not feeling it, but if you’re not feeling it, make the simple play and make them work for it, and earn it at least. We didn’t really make them work too hard today.”
Connor Ingram was in net for the Coyotes, who have alternated goaltending duties in each game so far this season. Ingram, who had never faced the Blues, stopped 24 shots.
“I didn’t have to do much today other than kill that penalty at the end of the second period,” Ingram said. “Other than that, I didn’t have to much. My job was pretty easy.”
The Blues’ Joel Hofer made a first start of the season and his first career start against Arizona. He stopped 36 shots. Last season, Hofer made six starts, going 3-1-1 with a .905 save percentage and 3.22 goals against average.
Bjugstad scored on a power play with a wrist-shot from the slot at 14 minutes, 42 seconds of the first period. Bjugstad’s first goal of the season came on a pass from the left circle by Matis Maccelli.
The Coyotes outscored the Blues 3-1 in the second period.
Keller gave Arizona a 2-0 lead by scoring with a nifty backhand after an Alexey Toropchenko turnover in the neutral zone at 2:34. Keller got a nice pass from Nick Schmaltz, who has 22 points in 15 games since the 2020-2021 season against the Blues.
Keller has 26 points in 25 career games in his hometown of St Louis.
Vrana scored at 7:02 for St Louis. Marco Scandella sent a backhand pass to Vrana, who skated into the slot and sent a wrister past Ingram on the stick side.
Arizona got the goal back 42 seconds later when Carcone answered with a wide speed rush that allowed him to cut to the net and slip it past Hofer. That gave the Coyotes two five-on-five goals in the game, after they had just one in the previous three.
Keller fed Schmaltz, who scored on a backhander in the slot at 13:58, giving the Coyotes a 4-1 lead.
Zuker’s goal came on a power play at 2:09 of the third, scoring on a one-timer after getting a pass from Macelli.
The Blues answered at 3:16 on a goal by Blais.
Durzi scored an unassisted power-play goal at 16:59.
“We were flat, all around. Didn’t skate, didn’t execute anything tonight,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We didn’t move at all. We gave up three power-play goals, too. Penalty kill wasn’t good.”
Elsewhere, the Knights downed the Jets 5-3, the Predators routed the Rangers 4-1, the Panthers mastered the Maple Leafs 3-1, the Flames edged the Sabres 4-3, the Flyers thrashed the Oilers 4-1 and the Kings whipped the Wild 7-3.
The Lightning pipped the Canucks 4-3, the Kraken crushed the Hurricanes 7-4, the Bruins sank the Sharks 3-1, the Stars outshone the Ducks 3-2 and the Avalanche blanked the Blackhawks 4-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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