Coyotes Game 13 Recap: Coyotes win streak ends, fall 4-1 to Blues

Game Recap

The Arizona Coyotes went into tonight’s game the winners of their last three against the St. Louis Blues. They weren’t able to keep that streak going, dropping tonight’s game 4-1.

In a lot of ways, tonight’s game was a lot like the last game. The Blues were able to score first, with another first-period goal on the power play.

The call that led to the power play was a pretty weak interference call on Christian Fischer. Justin Faulk had the puck at the point and shot it through traffic to give the Blues the 1-0 lead. A rough start, but one that could be overcome.

The Coyotes responded to the Blues goal. Despite not scoring, they kept up the pressure and had a few good looks. But even with a power play of their own, they weren’t able to find the tying goal in the first period.

But the work would pay off, and midway through the second period, Johan Larsson got his first of the season from Jordan Oesterle and Barrett Hayton. It was a solid goal by the fourth line, and came after Hayton had a nice move to keep the zone.

The game progressed from there until late in the first when it looked like Conor Garland gave the Coyotes the lead. But video review showed the play was off-sides and the second period ended tied.

Tonight’s third period started with the Blues coming strong. Combine that with some questionable calls, including a missed call when Garland took a stick to the face from a Blues player on the bench, and it wasn’t looking good for the Desert Dogs.

St. Louis would retake the lead halfway through the third when Jordan Kyrou beat an easy call. He took the puck into the corner and found a wide-open Justin Faulk who hammered it home.

That was far from the end, and the Coyotes kept up the pressure. But despite a few really close chances, they weren’t able to find the tying goal. Kuemper was pulled twice, leading to Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn scoring in the empty net.

Arizona had plenty of chances, and this could have been a very different game. There is a lot to build off going into tomorrow’s game.

Lines

Stray Thoughts

• At some point during the first period, Niklas Hjalmarsson sustained an upper-body injury. He played only 5:22.
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Christian Fischer returned tonight with Jason Demers sitting and Michael Chaput on the taxi squad.
• Tonight was also Dryden Hunt's second game of the season, this time playing with Phil Kessel and Derick Brassard.
• Barrett Hayton had a few really good looks, both defensively and offensively. He seemed to fit well with Larsson, but I'm not sure if you want Hayton spending the entire season on the fourth line.
• This is the second game of the series where the Coyotes won more than 50% of the faceoffs.
• The "Short Leash" Line was quiet tonight, but everyone had a few good looks.
• The Blues had their own disallowed goal. At first, it looked like Ryan O'Reilly got the puck past Kuemper, only for review to show the puck went in under the side of the net.

Three Stars

1. Justin Faulk - 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Jordan Binnington - 24 saves on 25 shots
3. Johan Larsson - 1 goal

Next Game

The Coyotes and Blues are back at it again tomorrow at 6:00 pm at Gila River Arena.