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Sinking Coyotes try to regroup against Blues

Oct 17, 2006 - 2:12 PM Phoenix (1-4-0) at St Louis (2-2-1) 8:00 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Coyotes looked sharp in their season opener, but things have been vastly different since.

The Coyotes, losers of four straight, try to rebound against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Phoenix opened with an impressive 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders but have been outscored 20-5 in their four-game losing skid.

The Coyotes' latest loss was a 4-1 defeat at Nashville on Saturday. Fredrik Sjostrom scored the lone goal for Phoenix, which went 1-for-5 on the power play.

The power play has been a major reason for the Coyotes' struggles, as they are just 4-for-35 (11.4 percent) with the extra man this season.

Phoenix goaltender Curtis Joseph, acquired as a free agent in the offseason, has not been very good in going 1-3-0 with a 4.38 goals-against average and an .852 save percentage.

St. Louis tries to build off a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Jamie Rivers, Bill Guerin and Martin Rucinsky scored power-play goals for the Blues.

St. Louis was an NHL-worst 12-23-6 at home last season, but is 2-0-0 so far this season on home ice.