In Glendale, the Arizona Coyotes got a strong game from Antti Raanta who made 38 saves in a 3-1 win over the visiting St Louis Blues.
“They’re the Stanley Cup champion and we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Coyotes forward Conor Garland said. “It’s a big win for us. We know the style they play and we wanted to push back and just play fast.”
Conor Garland opened the scoring for the Coyotes – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Garland staked the Coyotes to an early 1-0 lead.
“They work well as a five-man unit defensively, they don’t give up a lot of grade A scoring chances and their goalies play well, so it’s always a tough game when you play them,” the Blues’ Tyler Bozak said. “They really limit your second-chance opportunities, which is where you get a lot of goals in this League.”
Bozak had the lone goal for the Blues when they knotted the game at 1-1.
“We competed hard. It was a tough hockey game,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “We just didn’t execute well enough and that’s the bottom line.”
Nick Schmaltz and Phil Kessel also scored for the Coyotes.
“That’s a team that hasn’t lost for a long time. They’ve been 10 (points) ahead of everybody (in the Western Conference), so the 5-on-3 was huge,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “We made the key play. The last three, four or five games, we haven’t gotten that play. We got the key play at the right moment and that’s what good teams do.”
[WATCH: All Blues vs. Coyotes highlights]
Jake Allen made 23 saves in the loss.
“In the last little stretch we’ve had a good run, we’ve won eight in a row and you’re not going to win them all,” Allen said. “We’re ready to jump on to Colorado on Thursday, just take a breather tonight and get back to it.”
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