Final
Legace, second-period burst lift Blues over Coyotes
Dec 7, 2008 - 6:10 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- One night after letting a third-period lead slip away, Manny Legace did not allow the St. Louis Blues to squander another on Saturday.Legace made 11 of his 26 saves in the third period after rookie Patrik Berglund, Keith Tkachuk and B.J. Crombeen scored goals in an 8 1/2-minute span of the middle session as the Blues held on for a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
David Backes also tallied and Brad Boyes notched three assists for the Blues, who won for just the second time in six games. Boyes has recorded 10 points in his last eight contests.
Defenseman Ed Jovanovski, captain Shane Doan and rookie Kyle Turris scored for Phoenix, which swept the four-game series between the teams last season.
We're a young team battling for our lives," said Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, whose team fell to 4-8-1 on the road this season. "This was a tough game for us and we just came up short. But we have to do better on the road. Learning experiences need to become points."
St. Louis carried a 3-1 lead into the third period against Calgary on Friday, only to allow two power-play goals and drop a 4-3 decision in overtime. In this one, Legace stood tall in the final session as the Blues were outshot by an 11-5 margin but successfully killed a pair of shorthanded situations en route to improving to 7-0-1 when ahead after 40 minutes.
"We don't to things easy, but we didn't expect things to come easy this year," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "We needed to work hard tonight - they're probably the fastest team in the league right now - and keep the puck in their zone."
"I thought it was just a phenomenal team effort, especially on defense and the penalty kill," Legace said. "We got what we needed up front in the second period, but guys just played phenomenal in front of me all night. The kids are working really hard right now, and tonight, we finished the game."
After Doan gave the Coyotes a 2-1 edge at 4:15 of the second period, the Blues scored three times in a span of 8:33 to surge ahead.
During a power play, Berglund one-timed a cross-slot pass from the left faceoff circle by Boyes past goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov at 5:14 to knot the contest.
"(Boyes) found me in the right spot," said Berglund, who has netted three goals in his last five games. "It's fun to be around the net and score some goals."
"It's been good to see the young guys do some stuff," Boyes said. "On that goal by Patrik, he wasn't too nervous to take a shot, and it's something we are better at and need to continue to get better at."
Just 3:09 later, Bryzgalov stopped a shot from the left circle by Backes, but Tkachuk jabbed in the rebound from the doorstep for a 3-2 lead.
"We need to hustle and do the things we did tonight every night," Tkachuk said. "That's how we'll score, power play or not, and that's how we'll defend, even up or down a man."
Crombeen made it a two-goal bulge with 6:13 to go in the period, converting a pass from Berglund while at the inner edge of the right circle for his first goal in nine games since being claimed off waivers from the Dallas Stars on November 18.
"They're moving the puck around a lot better and not being so afraid of taking shots," Bryzgalov said of the Blues. "They really caught fire in the second, that's for sure."
Turris drew Phoenix within one with 3:56 left in the second. Defenseman Keith Yandle slapped a pass from the blue line to Turris, who walked in front from the left side of the crease and beat Legace during a power play for his third of the season.
Jovanovski opened the scoring at 9:02 of the first, but Backes pulled St. Louis even with 3:55 left in the session with his second goal in as many nights and third in four games.
"We had much better chances than them in the first (period) and, other than Ed's shot, didn't make them count," Doan said. "Then for about 10 minutes at the end of the second, they outplayed us badly - about as badly as we've been outplayed all year. We can't afford to have that happen, especially as a young team."
Bryzgalov turned aside 26 shots for the Coyotes, who had won four of five.
- NHL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHOENIX 1 2 0 3
ST LOUIS 1 3 0 4 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: PHO - ED JOVANOVSKI 2 (SHANE DOAN, PETER MUELLER) 9:03
STL - DAVID BACKES 6 (KEITH TKACHUK, ERIC BREWER) 16:05
2ND PRD: PHO - SHANE DOAN 13 (PETER MUELLER, ZBYNEK MICHALEK) 4:15
STL - (PP) PATRIK BERGLUND 8 (BRAD BOYE
Dec 6 11:11 PM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHOENIX 1 2 3
ST LOUIS 1 3 4 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: PHO - ED JOVANOVSKI 2 (SHANE DOAN, PETER MUELLER) 9:03
STL - DAVID BACKES 6 (KEITH TKACHUK, ERIC BREWER) 16:05
2ND PRD: PHO - SHANE DOAN 13 (PETER MUELLER, ZBYNEK MICHALEK) 4:15
STL - (PP) PATRIK BERGLUND
Dec 6 10:16 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 3
ST LOUIS 4
2ND PRD: PHO - (PP) KYLE TURRIS 3 (KEITH YANDLE, STEVEN REINPRECHT)
16:04
Coyotes 3, Blues 4 2nd - 3:56Dec 6 10:07 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 2
ST LOUIS 4
2ND PRD: STL - BRANDON CROMBEEN 2 (PATRIK BERGLUND, BRAD BOYES) 13:47
Coyotes 2, Blues 4 2nd - 6:13Dec 6 10:02 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 2
ST LOUIS 3
2ND PRD: STL - KEITH TKACHUK 12 (DAVID BACKES, BRAD BOYES) 8:23
Coyotes 2, Blues 3 2nd - 11:37Dec 6 9:50 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 2
ST LOUIS 2
2ND PRD: STL - (PP) PATRIK BERGLUND 8 (BRAD BOYES, CARLO COLAIACOVO)
5:14
Coyotes 2, Blues 2 2nd - 14:46Dec 6 9:43 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 2
ST LOUIS 1
2ND PRD: PHO - SHANE DOAN 13 (PETER MUELLER, ZBYNEK MICHALEK) 4:15
Coyotes 2, Blues 1 2nd - 15:45Dec 6 9:41 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHOENIX 1 1
ST LOUIS 1 1 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: PHO - ED JOVANOVSKI 2 (KYLE TURRIS, PETER MUELLER) 9:03
STL - DAVID BACKES 6 (KEITH TKACHUK) 16:05
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHO 9 9
STL 9
Dec 6 9:17 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 1
ST LOUIS 1
1ST PRD: STL - DAVID BACKES 6 (KEITH TKACHUK) 16:05
Coyotes 1, Blues 1 1st - 3:55Dec 6 9:11 PM - NHL
PHOENIX 1
ST LOUIS 0
1ST PRD: PHO - ED JOVANOVSKI 2 (KYLE TURRIS, PETER MUELLER) 9:03
Coyotes 1, Blues 0 1st - 10:57Dec 6 8:58 PM
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