GLENDALE, Ariz. — The games are dwindling down and the wins are stacking up for the St. Louis Blues. They bid adieu to the Arizona Coyotes and Gila River Arena on Saturday with a 5-4 overtime victory.
After squandering a 4-1 lead in the third period to force overtime, Robert Thomas won a faceoff. Vladimir Tarasenko sent the puck to Justin Faulk in the slot, who scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into extra time.
At 48-20-11, the Blues kept pace with the idle Minnesota Wild in the battle for second place in the Central Division and home-ice advantage in the playoffs. Both teams have 107 points, although the Blues have just three games left in the regular season to the Wild’s four.
The Blues ran their franchise-record point streak to 15 games (13-0-2). And remember the long stretches of this season when the team tread water on the road? No more. Their road point streak is now at nine games (9-0-1).
The Blues haven’t been the fastest starting team this season, but coach Craig Berube said after Saturday’s morning skate that he wanted some urgency and intensity from his team. He got that from the outset, with the Blues scoring twice in the opening six minutes and taking a 3-1 lead after one period.
It marked only the third time all season the Blues scored as many as three goals in the first period and the first time since March 10 at home against the New York Rangers.
The Blues’ defensemen corps had gone successive games without denting the score sheet — no points or assists — entering the Arizona game. But Faulk took care of that just 3 minutes 13 seconds into the game when he sent a blistering riser from the left point past Coyotes goalie Harris Sateri, who was making just his 10th NHL start.
It gave Faulk 14 goals for the season, his highest total in his last five seasons. Fourth-liners Nathan Walker and Logan Brown had the assists on the play – the fourth line has been noticeably more assertive on offense the last couple of games.
Another blast by Faulk led to the Blues’ second goal. It came from the right point this time and trickled behind Sateri. In swooped Ivan Barbashev to poke it across the goal line for his 25th goal of the season and a 2-0 Blues lead just 5:51 into the evening.
Late in the period it became 3-0 Blues on the power play. With Arizona’s Shayne Gotisbehere off for slashing Jordan Kyrou, Brandon Saad skated down the slot and attempted to pass cross-ice to David Perron. The pass was blocked, came back to Saad, who sent a backhand past Sateri for his 23rd goal of the season.
With just 2:49 left in the period, Arizona rookie Nathan Smith – playing in just his seventh NHL game – scored on a deflection to make it 3-1. But this wasn’t a night for much offense from Arizona, until the third period. Actually, it hasn’t been a season for much offense from the Coyotes, who are last in the league in scoring.
Dominating the second period, the Blues outshot the Coyotes 13-3 and added another goal to their total. The fourth line’s fingerprints were all over this one as well. Dakota Joshua stole the puck in the neutral zone and skated in on a breakaway.
His shot in tight was stopped by Sateri, but Brown came in trailing on the play and scored on the rebound just 2:56 into the second. It was Brown’s fourth goal of the season, but his first since Dec. 17 against Dallas.
For the second game in a row, Jordan Binnington didn’t have much to do. But he did make a couple of tough saves in the opening period, including a stop of Loui Eriksson on a breakaway. And early in the third period, the Coyotes suddenly made a game of it.
On just Arizona’s 13th shot of the game, rookie Bokondji Imana scored backdoor after a turnover by Kyrou in the St. Louis zone. It was the first NHL goal for Imana, a Montreal native playing in his second NHL game. So it was 4-2 St. Louis at the 5:39 mark of the third period.
That put some life into the Coyotes. They got some more life just 44 seconds later when Arizona’s Michael Carcone scored to make it a 4-3 game on Arizona’s 14th shot of the game.
Berube called a time out right then to get the Blues heads on straight. It didn’t work. The Coyotes kept working, outshooting the Blues 9-1 at one point in the period. And then tied the game at 4-4 on a J.J. Moser goal with just 4:42 left in regulation.
The last time the Blues played here, Jake Neighbours was on the ice and Pavel Buchnevich was head-butting Coyotes. (Well, a Coyote. Lawson Crouse.) That was more than five months ago, on Oct. 18. But Saturday marked the last time the Blues will play here.
The city of Glendale is terminating its lease with the Arizona Coyotes after this season, in part due to unpaid bills by the team to the city. The Coyotes will play next season at a 5,000-seat arena at Arizona State University.
The Blues play their final back-to-back of the season Sunday in Anaheim, and then play their final road game of the regular season Tuesday in Colorado.
