Blues move into third-place tie in Central Division

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jake Allen made 31 saves to help the St. Louis Blues to a 3-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Alex Pietrangelo Scottie Upshall and David Perron scored for the Blues (38-28-5), who have won seven of their past eight games and pulled even with the Nashville Predators for third place in the Central Division. The Predators lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Saturday.

"I just liked the way we looked tonight. We're stepping up to the occasion and guys are pulling their weight," Upshall said. "The contributions are all though the lineup, we're getting great leadership, great goaltending. When it comes together at this time of the year, it gets pretty exciting."
WATCH: All Blues vs. Coyotes highlights
St. Louis is 14-7-0 since Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 2, and five of the wins have been shutouts. The Blues have allowed 29 even-strength goals in its past 21 games, the fewest in the NHL.

The Blues have defeated the Coyotes nine straight times, outscoring them 38-12. They are 12-0-1 in their past 13 games against the Coyotes.
"We're playing with confidence, but we don't have a choice," said Allen, who set an NHL career high with his 27th win and has 15 career shutouts. "In previous years, we were already at 100 points and in the playoffs. Now everything is up in the air and we have to win."
Mike Smith made 38 saves for Arizona and denied Vladimir Tarasenko on a penalty shot with 45.6 seconds left in the second period. The Coyotes (26-36-9) were outshot 16-3 in the first period and had their point streak end at five games.
"We're not doing enough to make it hard on the other goalie. It was a pretty easy night for him ... he saw most of the shots," Smith said. "We didn't do enough things in front of the net to make [Allen] have to battle through."

Coyotes defenseman Tony DeAngelo was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding Blues forward Zach Sanford from behind 1:56 into the game. The Coyotes killed all but three seconds of the penalty before the Blues capitalized.
Pietrangelo's shot from against the far boards eluded Smith and found the top corner at 6:53 of the first period. It was his 10th goal of the season.
"Any time you lose a [defenseman] early in the game like that and they get a five-minute power play, it changes the complexion of the game," Smith said. "I did not love the call, but it is what it is and our D battled hard after that. That was a goal you'd like to have back."
Perron scored a shorthanded empty-net goal with 1:03 remaining.

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Goal of the game

Upshall lost the puck initially but tracked it down in the slot and put a whirling shot through traffic and past Smith at 2:52 of the second period to make it 2-0.

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Save of the game

Allen denied Teemu Pulkkinen on a breakaway when he took away the five-hole with 7:37 left in the second period.

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Highlight of the game

Smith tracked Alexander Steen's deflection in front and made a glove save to keep it a 2-0 game in the second period.

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Unsung performance of the game

With the Coyotes down to five defensemen less than two minutes into the game, Oliver Ekman-Larsson played 30:21 and had four shots on goal.

They said it

"[Smith] was excellent. We were so poor in the first period, it was maddening the say the least. We have to compete harder. Not enough guys were engaged. When you don't do that, the whole game is just whizzing by you." --Coyotes coach Dave Tippett
"We got the shutout tonight, but [Allen] had to be outstanding to get it." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo

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Need to know

Allen's shutout has him one behind Glenn Hall (16) for third place on the Blues all-time list.

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What's next

Blues:At the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Nashville Predators on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-TN, NHL.TV)