Carcone scores again as Arizona wins its fourth straight with a 4-1 victory over St. Louis
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Carcone scored for the fourth time in three games, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.
Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists for Arizona, which had a 3-0 lead after one period. Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli also scored, and Connor Ingram made 31 saves for his fourth straight win.
The Coyotes’ season-best win streak has come against the last four Stanley Cup champions — Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2020-21), Vegas (2023) and St. Louis (2019).
“We wanted to show the league we can compete with anybody," said second-year defenseman Michael Kesselring, who had an assist for the third straight game.
Kerfoot got an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining. He has five assists in the last three games.
Brandon Saad scored in the third period for the Blues, who had won four of six. Joel Hofer made 18 stops.
“We want to win games," Arizona coach Andrew Tourigny said. "We want to be in it. We want to be in the race for the playoffs We said at the beginning of the season we want to play meaningful games. We're in a good spot, but we can't take anything for granted.”
The teams met for the fourth and final time this season, all in the first 23 games. They each won twice.
“We really wanted this game,” Maccelli said.
St. Louis appeared to trim the deficit to 3-2 with 1:43 remaining, but an official review showed a shot from Jake Neighbours hit the cross bar did not cross the goal line.
Carcone has a team-high 11 goals, including five in the last five games. Schmaltz has scored three times in the last five games.
Ingram made only three saves in the first period but was tested in the second, when he stopped Saad on a breakaway two minutes in and Torey Krug on a quick wrist shot midway through the period. The Blues outshot the Coyotes 17-7 in the second.
“We needed (Ingram) to stand tall, and he was really good," Tourigny said. “He was the story of the last two periods.”
Ingram has a 10-3 record, and his winning percentage leads the league among goalies with eight or more starts.
The Coyotes killed all three penalties and have not given up a goal in 22 of the opponents’ last 24 chances.
“We didn’t come out skating good enough,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “They had the puck too much in the first period. I thought we recovered and played two good periods, but have to find a way to score more goals. They were on their toes skating and we were a little slow in reacting."
Jason Zucker appeared to give the Coyotes a 4-0 lead seven minutes into the third, but the goal was disallowed after an official review determined that he kicked the puck into the net.
Carcone put the Coyotes in front 40 seconds into the game, on the first shot. Kerfoot chased down his own pass off the back boards and sent a backhanded pass to Carcone, who hit the far side from the right circle.
Schmaltz scored on a power play after another backhanded pass from Kerfoot, and Maccelli scored on a quick wrist from the right circle after a quick rush with 38 seconds left in the first.
“That’s our best first period of the year, no doubt about it,” Tourigny said. “We had urgency. We had a plan. We were focused.”
UP NEXT
Blues: At Vegas on Monday.
Coyotes: Host Washington on Monday.
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