BLUES
The St. Louis Blues have returned home from a three-game road trip in Western Canada that saw the team collect five of a possible six points (2-0-1).
The Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday to begin the trip, mounted a big comeback Friday in Edmonton to erase a 4-1 deficit and earn a point in an overtime loss, then scored six goals in a 6-4 victory over the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames on Saturday.
"You don't care how you get them, you just want the two points," Justin Faulk said after the victory in Calgary. "Tough road trip, a lot of travel, back-to-back (games)… it's a big five points for us."
Faulk had a goal and two assists in Saturday's win, while Robert Thomas and Ryan O'Reilly each contributed a goal and assist.
The Blues have put together a four-game point streak (3-0-1) to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. With 86 points, the Blues are in third place in the Central Division - four points ahead of the Nashville Predators, who hold the first Wild Card spot.
COYOTES
Things haven't improved a whole lot in Arizona, where the Coyotes sit in dead last in the League standings with a 21-42-5 record and 47 points this season.
If that wasn't frustrating enough, the team also lost star forward Clayton Keller - a St. Louis native - for the remainder the season after he suffered a fractured leg on Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks. The team announced that Keller was "doing well" after undergoing surgery, but he is expected to miss four to six months.
"Want to thank my teammates, the fans, and medical personnel for the love and support last night," Keller tweeted. "Unfortunately the season's over for me, but I'm resting comfortably at the hospital in good spirits. I will be back better than ever for day 1 next season!!!!"
The Coyotes dropped a 5-0 decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday and are 1-6-1 their last last eight games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Monday's game will be the third of four meetings between the Blues and Coyotes this season. The last matchup will be played April 23 in Arizona.
Each team has won a game in the series so far.
The Blues are 3-3-1 in their last seven games against the Coyotes.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES
Robert Thomas, who has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his current five-game point streak. Thomas has six multi-point games in his last nine contests.
COYOTES
With Keller out, 26-year-old Nick Schmaltz is a player opposing teams will need to key in on. Schmaltz is scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace for the Coyotes, recording 20 goals and 27 assists (47 points) in 49 games this season.
BLUE NOTES
Craig Berube is set to coach in his 259th game with the Blues, moving him past Andy Murray for fourth on the Blues' all-time list… The Blues share ninth overall with 46 points at home this season. The team will host Arizona on Monday, Seattle on Wednesday, Minnesota on Friday and the New York Islanders on Saturday… With Saturday's 6-4 win, the Blues became the second non-Original Six team to reach 1,967 wins - a significant number in Blues history. The team entered the League in the 1967 expansion.
The St. Louis Blues will look to tighten their defensive play when they host the Arizona Coyotes Monday to open a four-game homestand.
The Blues (38-20-10, 86 points) extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1) with a 6-4 victory at Calgary Saturday.
"There was probably some fatigue involved, but the guys battled," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "That's the biggest thing I take out of it. It was a real gutsy win by us. You come into this building on a back-to-back night, you better battle. And you better have a gutsy win. Because that's a very good team over there and they just keep coming. It's four lines. They just keep coming."
The Blues earned seven of a potential eight points against Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary after pulling out of a 3-6-3 funk. But Berube expressed concern his team allowed the Flames to put 43 shots on goal and get several scoring chances in front of the net.
"I think early on we gave up too many point shots," Berube said. "Their (defense) pounded a lot of pucks. We didn't get in shooting lanes enough. And then we weren't strong enough around our net. A couple of their goals we were a little loose. They got three goals tonight in tight around our net. You gotta get dirty and mean there. That's the bottom line. You gotta knock people down, be heavy.
"I don't like giving those goals up. We gotta do a better job of blocking shots."
The Blues are in third place in the Central Division while last-place Arizona (22-42-5, 49 points) has been eliminated from playoff contention. St. Louis has split its first two games against the Coyotes, winning 7-4 on the road on Oct. 18 and falling to them to 3-2 on Nov. 16..
Arizona is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory over the Blackhawks Sunday in Chicago. The Coyotes bounced back after falling to the Anaheim Ducks 5-0 Friday at home.
"I don't think anybody was happy with how the last game went, especially being at home too," Coyotes forward Travis Boyd told Bally Sports after the game. "We had a good couple of days as a team, kind of hit the reset button. We just had to get back to what makes us successful. I don't think we played that way the other night.
"I think tonight was a lot better. Obviously we got the result, but even if we didn't get the result in overtime it was still a good team game."
Ville Husso (19-6-5, 2.45 goals-against average) has emerged as the lead goaltender for the Blues. He relieved Jordan Binnington Friday and earned the victory Saturday.
The Blues hope to get forward Jordan Kyrou back for this game. He missed the last three games due to a non-COVID illness. Forward Logan Brown also missed Saturday's game due to illness.
The injury-diminished Coyotes lost All-Star forward Clayton Keller to a broken leg. They have 10 players on their roster who started the season in the AHL.
Karel Vejmelka started in goal for the Coyotes Sunday, so they may come back with Josef Korenar -- who stopped 26 of 28 shots in relief of Vejmelka Friday.
