Coyotes score 3 on power play in win against Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Sean Durzi each had a goal and an assist for the Arizona Coyotes, who scored three times on the power play in a 6-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Matias Maccelli and Juuso Valimaki each had two assists, and Connor Ingram made 24 saves for the Coyotes, who concluded a season-opening four-game road trip 2-2-0.

"It's a big step for us," Ingram said. "We're working to change the culture around here and become a winning culture. We're in games and we're competitive, and that's huge for us."

Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist, and Joel Hofer made 36 saves in his first start of the season for the Blues (1-1-1).

"It's sloppy, it's ugly. It's ugly hockey. It looks lazy," St. Louis 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."

Nick Bjugstad gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 14:42 of the first period with their first power-play goal, scoring from the slot after the Blues failed on two clearing attempts and three chances to collect loose pucks following Arizona shots.

Keller made it 2-0 on a breakaway at 2:34 of the second period after Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

Vrana scored from the slot to cut it to 2-1 at 7:02, but Michael Carcone answered 42 seconds later to push the lead to 3-1 for Arizona after St. Louis forward Nikita Alexandrov fumbled a puck in the neutral zone and Carcone powered around defenseman Tyler Tucker.

"I had the opportunity to wheel the puck," Carcone said. "I just tried to take my man wide, and I was fortunate to get it under [Hofer's] pad. I just go out there and play."

Schmaltz made it 4-1 at 13:58 with a backhand from the slot off a pass by Keller.

"I think they work extremely hard," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said of the top line. "Today, they had their execution. I don't think they had that since the beginning. They weren't connecting like they did tonight. They connected and they made plays. They were good."

Jason Zucker's power-play goal extended it to 5-1 at 2:09 of the third period. He scored on a one-timer from the right circle.

"We gave up three power-play goals," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "Penalty kill wasn't good. Just not clearing pucks, switches that are unnecessary in [the] zone, just giving up easy plays. Execution on the PK.

"... We were flat, all around. Didn't skate, didn't execute anything tonight. We didn't move at all."

Sammy Blais cut the Blues deficit to 5-2 at 3:16, but Durzi scored the Coyotes' third power-play goal at 16:59 with a shot from the point for the 6-2 final.

"I think our goalie was good," Tourigny said. "We had a good performance from all of our D-corps. We put a lot of pucks on net. That was good. I think in general, there was better execution from us."

NOTES: Schmaltz has 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 30 games against St. Louis; Keller, who grew up in nearby Swansea, Illinois, has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 25 games against the Blues. ... Keller (347) surpassed Morris Lukowich (345) for sole possession of 11th on the franchise’s points list. … Forward Logan Cooley, the No. 3 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had an assist for Arizona and has four in four games to start his NHL career. ... The Coyotes will play their home opener against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. ... St. Louis has not had the lead at any point this season, a span of 190 minutes. ... Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich missed the game with an upper-body injury.