Blues at Coyotes
The St. Louis Blues are among the hottest teams in hockey and will face an opponent they have feasted on as they attempt to improve their playoff position. The Blues are one point behind Calgary for the top wild card and one in back of Nashville for third place in the Central Division entering Wednesday's matchup at the Arizona Coyotes in the second leg of a home-and-home.
"I love this time of year," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo after his team beat the visiting Coyotes 4-1 on Monday night for its 10th consecutive victory in the series. "... If you're a competitor, you love to play meaningful games at this time of the year." The surging Blues have won 10 of 12 overall (10-1-1) since a five-game skid to improve to 17-7-1 since Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock behind the bench at the beginning of February. St. Louis also owns a 14-game point streak (13-0-1) against Arizona and has not lost in regulation to the Coyotes in nearly five years, dating to April 6, 2012. Airzona, mired in last place in the Pacific Division, closed out a five-game road trip with three straight losses, managing one goal in each.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE BLUES (41-28-6): Jaden Schwartz scored twice in Monday's victory, giving him four goals in his last four games, which came on the heels of a lengthy drought in which he produced one tally in a span of 25 games. "Even when he wasn't scoring, he was contributing," said linemate Alexander Steen, who collected a career-high four assists as St. Louis' No. 1 line pierced the Coyotes for 10 points. "Eventually it turned in his favor." Vladimir Tarasenko has seven goals and 12 points in 11 games.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (27-40-9): The youth movement is in full swing in Arizona with top prospect Clayton Keller, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016 draft and fresh out of Boston University, making his NHL debut against the Blues. Keller was among seven rookies in the lineup -- all under the age of 21 -- and received a memorable welcome when Tarasenko made it a point to offer his congratulations at the opening faceoff. "He's a star player, it's really special for him to do that," Keller said.
OVERTIME
1. G Jake Allen is 7-0-0 lifetime against Arizona and became the first Blues netminder to notched 30 wins in a season since Chris Mason (2009-10).
2. Coyotes D Anthony DeAngelo scored his fifth goal in St. Louis, making him and D Jakob Chychrun (7) the only rookie tandem with at least five goals this season.
3. Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo has scored in three of the last five games to match his career high with 12 goals.