Coyotes rally past Blues, end losing streak at five

GLENDALE, Ariz. --The Arizona Coyotes rallied from two goals down to end their losing streak at five with a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

"We'd lost a lot of games at the end [of the nine-game road trip], but I felt like we played some good hockey. We were in every game against some good teams, so we had a lot of confidence in our group," Arizona captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. "If we keep playing that way, the points and the wins are going to come."
Michael Bunting scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period for the Coyotes (20-20-5), who went 5-2-1 against St. Louis this season. Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves in his return after missing the previous 19 games with a lower-body injury.
"Obviously, you want to be in there for such a big game," Kuemper said. "It's a great, great game to come back in and get a little bit of that adrenaline going. It's a huge two points."
Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the Blues (19-18-6), who fell one point behind Arizona for fourth place in the Honda West Division with two games in hand. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's a big game and they played really tight defensively," St. Louis forward Tyler Bozak said. "They don't let you create a lot of opportunities. They did a good job after our two goals of slowing us down. … We've got to put this one behind us because it's going to be important game after important games."
Bunting gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead at 4:00 of the third period when he deflected Jakob Chychrun's slap shot from the right point. Bunting, who has scored seven goals in 10 games this season, was playing his first home game in the NHL after his first 14 came on the road.

Sammy Blais gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 1:23 of the first period on the Blues' second shot of the game. He beat Kuemper blocker side with a wrist shot from the top of right face-off circle.
Bozak pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:14 when he scored a power-play goal off his own rebound.
Despite letting in two early goals, Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said he didn't see any frustration out of Kuemper, who practiced only twice since last playing March 8, including a short workout Friday.
"That's `Kuemps.' Even if he lets a goal in here or there, he really fights through it," Tocchet said. "He shut them down the rest of the way."
Alex Goligoski cut it to 2-1 at 1:41 of the second period. Nick Schmaltz forced a turnover by Blues forward Brayden Schenn below the goal line before feeding Goligoski for a one-timer from the high slot. Goligoski, a defenseman, has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 13 games.

Clayton Keller tied it 2-2 at 10:34 with a shot from the right circle over the glove of Binnington on the power play.
"We have a great start and we know they're going to make a push, but we don't turn up the aggression," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "We stopped playing, every single one of us. … It killed us."
St. Louis has been outscored 53-36 in the second period this season.
"We're prepared for the game, we started off really well, we get the 2-0 lead, and we come out for the second period and we're not aggressive anymore," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We sit back and let teams come at us and get on our heels. You lose that aggressiveness, sometimes it's hard to get it back."
NOTES:St. Louis has lost five straight on the road. Arizona has won on four straight at home. … Blues forward Jordan Kyrou (stomach virus) was a late scratch. … The Coyotes have five wins in games in which they trailed by multiple goals this season.