COYOTES 4, BLUES 1: Although his shutout streak ended at 234 minutes, 25 seconds, Mike Smith turned aside 31 shots and Mikkel Boedker collected a goal and an assist as visiting Phoenix moved into first place in the Pacific Division.
St. Louis' bid for the Presidents' Trophy also came to an end with its first loss in four meetings against the Coyotes this season.
Radim Vrbata and captain Shane Doan scored just over two minutes apart in the second period for Phoenix, which moved past idle Los Angeles and San Jose to claim a one-point lead in the division. The Coyotes will hit the road versus Minnesota on Saturday while the Kings visit the Sharks.
Smith permitted a first-period goal to Patrik Berglund to snap his NHL record of 161 consecutive saves.
The netminder survived a scare during the second period when teammate Rostislav Klesla's leg hit him in the mask. Smith stayed in the game and was brilliant in killing off a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation.
Vrbata gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead 5:44 into the second period after he used a St. Louis defender as a screen before wristing a shot from the high slot past All-Star Brian Elliott. The tally was Vrbata's 34th to become the first Coyote since Jeremy Roenick in 1999-2000 to hit that mark.
Doan doubled the advantage just 2:10 later after he accepted Antoine Vermette's centering feed and quickly beat Elliott for his 22nd goal.
After All-Star defenseman Keith Yandle opened the scoring just 2:13 into the first period, Berglund leveled the contest after converting a 3-on-1 rush with 5:34 left in the session. Smith denied a pair of shots, but Berglund smacked a loose puck into a virtual empty net for his 19th goal.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Smith's shutout streak was the third longest this season, trailing Philadelphia's Ilya Bryzgalov (249 minutes, 34 seconds) and Elliott. ... Elliott finished with 28 saves for the Blues.
Phoenix | St. Louis | |
Mikkel Boedker 2 | Points | Patrik Berglund 1 |
Mikkel Boedker 1 | Goals | Patrik Berglund 1 |
Antoine Vermette 2 | Assists | Andy McDonald 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Mike Smith .969 | Save Percentage | Brian Elliott .875 |
Mike Smith 31 | Saves | Brian Elliott 28 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Phoenix | 32 | 4 | 0-6 | 6-6 | 36 | 35 |
St. Louis | 32 | 1 | 0-6 | 6-6 | 26 | 30 |