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Blues climb above 500-mark with win

Apr 4, 2007 - 6:49 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Blues will miss the playoffs, but the season hasn't been a disappointment.

Petr Cajanek and Doug Weight each had a goal and an assist as the Blues topped the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-2.

The Blues improved to 34-33-13 and further removed themselves from last season's dismal 21-win effort.

"We have a lot of belief and confidence throughout our lineup and it shows," Weight said. "We are out of the playoffs but we have been playing like this since December. With what we went through this season with all the trades and injuries this is a great feeling and a great win for us."

St. Louis, which snapped a six-game losing streak against the Coyotes, also received goals from defenseman Barret Jackman, Radek Dvorak and D.J. King - his first NHL goal.

"I think if you look back in December, we had 18 points. We now have 81," said St. Louis coach Andy Murray, who took over after the Blues fired Mike Kitchen in December. "That is a lot of points in a short period of time. We have played good hockey."

St. Louis goaltender Jason Bacashihua, who stopped 31 shots, credits Murray for the team's improvement.

"The start of the season was not the way we wanted things to go, but since Andy has come in we are a different team now," he said. "We are a 60-minute hockey club and we have been that way ever since Andy has come over."

Phoenix netminder Curtis Joseph had another difficult game, allowing five goals on 22 shots, before being replaced by Mikael Tellqvist.

Joseph is 1-9-1 in his last 11 starts. The 39-year-old has 444 career wins and is three shy of tying Terry Sawchuk for fourth on the NHL all-time list. Phoenix, the last-place team in the Western Conference, has three games remaining.

"The effort was not very good, very average," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "You get paid until the end of the season and we have to be professional about it. We have a handful of guys who play hard every single night but we have too many passengers. It is just not good enough."

Phoenix scored twice on the power play, getting goals from Jeremy Roenick and Daniel Carcillo. It was the 493rd career goal for Roenick and his first since March 17.