In St Louis, the Blues kept up the pressure on their rivals in the Central Division on Monday night with a 5-1 rout of the Arizona Coyotes.
The Blues are now six points clear of the Nashville Predators for the third spot in the division.
“We had good life,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “Being on that long road trip (three games in Western Canada), you worry about it a little bit coming home, but guys were good. They came out hard.”
The Blue improved to 39-20-10.
Vladimir Tarasenko hit for a double for the Blues.
Ville Husso made 21 saves in the St Louis win.
“[Husso] made a couple big saves for us early, and I think that jump-started us all,” St Louis’ Robert Thomas said. “I think we came out with the right mindset. We were attacking early. Even though we didn’t score (in the first period), I thought we had a ton of chances that could have easily gone in. I’ve definitely been liking our starts as of late.”
Nick Schmaltz was the lone goal scorer for the Coyotes.
“They (Blues) played a good game,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “They were big, heavy, strong. They hit, they skate. We worked. We tried to stay with it. … I think the guys fought, but it’s not just two games in two nights, it’s seven games in 11 nights. The tank was pretty empty against a big team that skates like that. Give them a lot of credit and give credit to our guys to fight, to try.”
The Coyotes dropped to 22-43-5.
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and three points for St Louis.
After a scoreless first period, the erupted for four goals in the middle frame.
“We gave up 17 scoring chances against five in the first,” Tourigny said. “It was 0-0, but that was just blowing smoke.
“There was a big-boy game tonight. They were big, fast, on us, hit, and we had no answer.”
Ivan Barbashev broke the ice for a 1-0 lead, Tarasenko scored his first of the game for a 2-0 lead.
Brayden Schenn pushed the lead out to 3-0, and Buchnevich added the fourth of the period for the 4-0 lead.
“We came out in the second and got a couple goals and went from there,” Berube said. “Pretty solid all-around.”
Tarasenko added his second goal in the third period.
“I think as a team we’re just playing really well,” Thomas said. “Chances are coming from everywhere. Everyone’s having good looks, everyone’s chipping in offensively. I think it all comes from that.”
Ivan Prosvetov made 24 saves in the Arizona loss.
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