Thomas scores tiebreaking goal as Blues beat Coyotes

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored the tiebreaking goal and the St. Louis Blues beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Thursday night.

Oskar Sundqvist also scored and Joel Hofer had 19 saves as the Blues won for the third time in their last four games.

Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona, and Karel Vejmelka finished with 31 saves. The Coyotes lost for the second time in three games.

St. Louis finished 0 for 7 on the power play, falling to a league worst 1 for 35 — including 0 for 18 at home — with the man advantage.

Thomas snapped a 1-all tie at 6 minutes of the second period, tipping in a feed from Pavel Buchnevich. It extended Thomas’ points streak to five games.

Hofer, who improved to 3-1-0 on the season, faced just 10 shots over the first two periods, but came up with several big saves as Arizona turned up the pressure in the third.

Sundqvist gave the Blues the lead at 2:16 of the first, banging in the rebound in front. The scoring chance came seconds after Coyotes center Logan Cooley got tangled up with referee Pierre Lambert, creating the rush.

Arizona’s Liam O’Brien took a double minor for cross checking and roughing and Matt Dumba was called for boarding 9 seconds later midway through the first, giving the Blues four straight minutes with the man advantage, including a full two minutes at 5 on 3.

But St. Louis’ struggling power play couldn’t convert, managing just two shots on the prolonged man advantage.

Crouse tied it for Arizona at 1-all with a power-play goal with 4:46 left in the firstt. Crouse extended his career-high six game points streak.

Arizona center Jack McBain left the game after going into the board awkwardly early in the second period and did not return.

UP NEXT

Coyotes: At Nashville on Saturday night for the second of a five-game trip.

Blues: At Colorado on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl