BLUES After two difficult losses to open the road trip, the St. Louis Blues got back into rhythm for a 3-1 win over Anaheim on Sunday night. Jake Neighbours got the Blues on the board first, scoring in two games in a row for the first time in his career after lighting the lamp the previous night in Los Angeles.
Pavel Buchnevich followed with his team-high third power-play goal of the season, eventually holding as the game winner after the Ducks got on the board in the second period.
The win came at a critical time, staving off a third straight loss and 0-3 road trip record. The Blues have done a better job not letting losing streaks drag out – they have not exceeded two losses in a row all season.
Wednesday night, the Blues have an opportunity to come out of their West road trip an even 2-2, visiting the Coyotes at the NHL’s smallest venue for their third matchup of the young season. Returning home to greet Ryan O’Reilly and the Nashville Predators on Friday, the Blues will then hit the road again to visit Chicago and Minnesota.
The Blues will face the Coyotes with a record of 9-7-1, worth 19 points and fourth in the Central Division.
COYOTES Since falling 2-1 at Enterprise Center, the Arizona Coyotes have gone an even 2-2-1. Both wins were on the road – against Nashville and Columbus – while the losses came at the hands of Dallas (overtime), Winnipeg and Los Angeles.
The Coyotes are looking to bounce back from the losses to Winnipeg and LA, their two most recent games heading into Wednesday’s matchup. Though they struck first against the Jets, Arizona allowed three unanswered goals from the Kings en route to 5-2 and 4-1 losses, respectively.
Since facing the Blues on Nov. 9, Clayton Keller leads Arizona with five points – though is scoreless in the two losses. Lawson Crouse has also heated up, scoring three goals in the last five games for a team-leading eight on the season.
Rookie Logan Cooley continues his strong initial campaign, dishing three assists in the Nov. 11 win over Nashville. Cooley’s 10 assists lead all NHL rookies, his 12 points ranking second.
After hosting the Blues, the Coyotes visit Vegas before a five-game stay at Mullett Arena – including another matchup with the Blues.
They enter the matchup with a record of 8-8-2, worth 18 points and fifth in the Central Division.
HEAD TO HEAD The Blues are 1-1-0 against Arizona this season, already facing off for a third time on Wednesday night and a fourth on Dec. 2. In their last seven matchups, the Blues are 4-3-0.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, sharing the team lead with two goals on the current road trip. After beginning the season with three points in his first nine games, Buchnevich has five goals and three assists in his last six.
COYOTES Lawson Crouse, leading the Coyotes with eight goals this season. Crouse has three goals in his last four games and scored one earlier this season against St. Louis.
BLUE NOTES
- At 8-0-0 after Sunday’s game, the Blues are the only team in the NHL with no losses of any kind in games in which they score the first goal
- The Blues are 7-0-0 when scoring at least three goals this season
- The Blues’ penalty kill in road games is currently 22-for-24 (91.7%) on the season, the fourth-best mark in the League and an improvement over last year’s 70.7% road penalty-kill figure
- The Blues’ defensive efficiency of 2.71 goals against per game shares 7th in the NHL this season, only trailing the League-leading Bruins by just over 0.5 goals per game
- Brayden Schenn’s next point will be No. 600 in his NHL career
