Coyotes Fall to Blues in High Scoring Game on Wednesday

STATS

Five different Coyotes scored, but the Arizona Coyotes fell to the St. Louis Blues 6-5 at Mullett Arena on Wednesday.

Six different players scored for the Blues, who have won two straight and are now 2-1-0 against the Coyotes this season. The two teams meet once more this year, on Dec. 2 at Mullett Arena.

"It stings, but we have to use that, channel it the right way, and realize we all have to be better," defenseman Matt Dumba said. "Too many mental lapses in our game. We need to be able to generate a full 60 and come out on the better side of these."

Nick Bjugstad, Jason Zucker, Lawson Crouse, Michael Carcone, and Nick Schmaltz scored for the Coyotes (8-9-2), and Connor Ingram made 18 saves in relief of starter Karel Vejmelka, who allowed four goals on 11 shots. Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, Alexey Toropchenko, Robert Thomas, and Kevin Hayes scored for the Blues (10-7-1), while Joel Hofer made 12 saves in relief of Jordan Binnington to earn his sixth win of the season.

Arizona finished a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, and has not given up a power-play goal over its last four games (11-for-11). Wednesday's effort included a 5-on-3 kill for 1:22, and the Coyotes have killed off 92 percent of their penalties since Nov. 9, but the Blues struck twice while shorthanded on Wednesday and four additional times at even strength.

Schenn opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 8:47 of the first period, beating Vejmelka on his backhand to make it 1-0.

Bjugstad answered with his fourth of the season at 10:40 of the opening frame, taking a pass from Matias Maccelli in the left circle before wristing it past Binnington. The Blues answered under two minutes later, though, as Parayko beat Vejmelka with a slapshot from the top of the right circle to restore St. Louis’ lead.

That’s when things got wild.

Crouse gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead 22 seconds into the second period, but Leddy and Toropchenko scored back-to-back shorthanded goals 33 seconds apart to restore the Blues’ lead at 4-3, and also led head coach André Tourigny to pull Vejmelka in favor of Ingram.

"Our team needs to be better," Tourigny said. "I have to be better. Vejmelka has to be better. Everybody has to be better, that’s not good enough."

Carcone answered with his seventh goal of the season at 6:56, sniping a shot under the crossbar, and though play initially continued on, it was eventually blown dead by Toronto, and ultimately ruled a goal following video review. Schmaltz scored 1:04 later, spinning around and ripping a shot past Binnington to give the Coyotes a 5-4 lead.

The Blues, however, tied it up just under three minutes later, as Thomas beat Ingram to even the score at five.

"We know what we have to do in here,"  Bjugstad said. "It’s a hard-working team that buys into the system, buys into each other, and trusts each other, but when games happen like this it’s time to look in the mirror a little bit, everyone individually, and try to pick each other up."

Hayes scored on a breakaway 4:13 into the third period to give the Blues a 6-5 lead, and Arizona was unable to find the equalizer en route to their third straight loss. The Coyotes play five of their next six games at home, but their next five games come against the most recent Stanley Cup Champions: Vegas (2023), Tampa Bay (2020, 2021), Colorado (2022), St. Louis (2019), and Washington (2018).

"You need character," Tourigny said. "We know what we have to do, and we need to do it with urgency."

The Coyotes are back in action on Saturday, making a quick trip to Vegas to face the Golden Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 pm MST, and the game will be broadcast on the following networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208
WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: ESPN 620
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App