Coyotes Conclude Road Trip with 6-2 Win in St. Louis

STATS

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Michael Carcone and Connor Ingram were rivals during their days in the AHL, consistently battling it out from opposite ends of the ice.

Now they're teammates, and both made key plays at critical times to help spur Arizona to a road trip-ending win.

Six different players scored, Ingram made 24 saves, and the Arizona Coyotes wrapped up their four-game season-opening road trip with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

Nick Bjugstad, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Jason Zucker, Sean Durzi, and Carcone scored for Arizona in the win. Keller, Schmaltz, Durzi, Juuso Valimaki, and Matias Maccelli each finished with two points for the Coyotes, who finished their road trip 2-2-0.

Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais scored, and Joel Hofer made 36 saves in his first start of the season for the Blues, who fell to 1-1-1 on the season.

Carcone's goal came at a pivotal moment in the second period for the Coyotes, just 42 seconds after Vrana had cut the team's lead in half. He restored Arizona's two-goal cushion to make it 3-1 after picking up speed and maneuvering around Hofer, scoring his first of the season in the process.

"I think that's a key moment in the game," head coach André Tourigny said. "We played a good game until then, and then they scored the first goal. A little bit of a soft play, a good play by them. Then it could have tipped the other way, and Carcs scored a big goal."

Ingram took it from there, shutting down the Blues' offense, sans one more goal when the game was well out of reach. He was particularly effective late in the second period during a penalty kill, turning aside multiple quality chances to ensure the Coyotes entered the second intermission with a three-goal lead.

Arizona outshot St. Louis 42-26 in the win, finished 3-for-4 on the power play, and was a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Carcone, who was often on the other side of Ingram's heroics in the AHL, said he is grateful to now be on the same team.

"He's a wall," Carcone said. "I think he's a pretty underrated guy in this league. Every time he's in the net, I know we have a chance."

Ingram was just as grateful for Carcone's goal.

"That's what he brings to the table," Ingram said. "He's a guy that doesn't get a lot of recognition, and he deserves it."

Arizona was sharp from the outset of the game, outshooting St. Louis 11-7 in the first while taking a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to Bjugstad, who potted his first of the season at 14:42 of the opening frame. Maccelli and Valimaki assisted on the play.

It was solid execution from the Coyotes, who managed just six shots through two periods against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

"There was some stuff we talked about coming from the Island," Carcone said. "Things we wanted to work on, like getting more shots off and getting to the net. I think, not only did it show on the scoreboard, but I think we had a pretty good amount of shots tonight, too.

"I think it was a good answer, and we need to continue to do that."

Keller put the Coyotes up 2-0 2:34 into the second period, taking a pass from Schmaltz and sliding it under Hofer. The 25-year-old forward has five points in four games this season, and 26 total points in 25 career games against his hometown Blues.

Schmaltz increased the Coyotes’ lead to three with a nice backhand, taking a pass from Keller and lifting it past a sprawling Hofer. It’s his 11th career goal against St. Louis, and his 31st point in 30 games against them.

Zucker scored his first of the year – and as a Coyote – after he one-timed a pass from Maccelli past Hofer 2:09 into the final frame. It was Arizona’s second power-play goal of the game, and Valimaki earned his second assist of the night on the play.

Blais scored just over a minute later, tapping in a pass from Vrana past Ingram, before Durzi potted the Coyotes' third power-play goal of the game to round out the scoring.

Arizona had things well under control by then, and ultimately wrapped up its four-game road trip with a .500 record.

"It was a tough road trip against really good opponents," Tourigny said.  ".500, we'll take that. If you look at the first three games, they were all one shot games. We could have had more than four points on that trip, so it will be important for us to regroup and be ready for the home opener."

The Coyotes are back in action on Saturday for their home opener at Mullett Arena, against the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 pm MST, with a red-carpet beginning at 10 am. The game will be broadcast on the below networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson, 15.2 Cottonwood/Prescott/Flagstaff/Lake Havasu/Kingman
• Streaming: N/A
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95, Orbitel 200, Mediacom 107 (Pinal County)
• Tucson Cable: Cox 85, Xfinity 1179, Orbitel 208
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Prescott: Cable One Prescott channel 61

WHERE TO LISTEN:
Radio: ESPN 620 AM
Streaming: Arizona Coyotes App, Arizona Sports App