Blues close in on playoffs with another win over Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The St. Louis Blues moved within a point of a playoff berth on Wednesday with a win over a familiar victim.
Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron scored, Carter Hutton made 22 saves, and the Blues posted a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
It was the Blues' third win over the Coyotes in the last 12 days and their 11th straight win over Arizona. In those 11 games, St. Louis has outscored Arizona 45-14. The Blues are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games against Arizona and have not lost to Arizona in regulation since 2012.
Louis Domingue made 40 saves for Arizona but took his first loss in four March starts.
The Blues (42-28-6) moved one point ahead of idle the Nashville Predators into third place in the Central Division, with six games remaining for each team. St. Louis leads Los Angeles by 11 points and each team has six games left. With one more point, the Blues would eliminate the Kings and clinch a playoff spot because they have seven more wins in regulation or overtime, an insurmountable lead in the first tiebreaker.
On Wednesday, St. Louis took a 1-0 lead at 9:16 of the first period when defenseman Colton Parayko made a nice play at the blue line to keep a puck onside. Parayko fed Magnus Paajarvi in front of the net, and Paajarvi found Berglund streaking up the left side for a one-timer past Domingue. It was Berglund's 22nd goal of the season, second best on the team.
Tarasenko, the Blues' leading scorer, widened the lead to 2-0 at 2:25 of the second period, gathering the rebound of Jay Bouwmeester's shot and beating Domingue from a bad angle at the left faceoff dot. It was Tarasenko's 36th goal of the season.
Alex Goligoski scored on a power play at 14:37 of the third period to end Hutton's shutout bid. On the play, rookie Clayton Keller earned a second assist for his first NHL point in just his second NHL game.
Perron added an empty-net goal for St. Louis with 19.8 seconds left. The Blues are 11-2-1 in March, with one game left on Friday at Colorado, the league's worst team.
NOTES: Coyotes RW Shane Doan missed his seventh straight game with a lower-body injury. Coach Dave Tippett said Doan looked much better in practice and there is a chance the team captain will play Friday against Washington. ... Coyotes LW Clayton Keller made his home debut after making his NHL debut on Monday in St. Louis, near his hometown of Swansea, Ill. ... Tippett switched up his goalie and went with backup Louis Domingue, who had won his last three starts. Starter Mike Smith played four of five games on the team's recent road trip and is 4-14 against the Blues, with a 3.52 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage. ... Blues D Jordan Schmaltz replaced D Carl Gunnarsson in the lineup. Gunnarsson was hurt late in the Monday game.