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
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
RSS