{coyotes} Schwartz hat trick leads Blues past Coyotes

Saturday, 18 October 2014

{coyotes} Schwartz hat trick leads Blues past Coyotes

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jaden Schwartz's first career hat trick lifted the St. Louis Blues past the Arizona Coyotes 6-1 on Saturday.

Vladimir Tarasenko assisted on each of the Blues' first three goals, Jori Lehtera had a goal and two assists, and David Backes and Alex Steen each had a goal and an assist for St. Louis, which has won five straight games in Arizona.

Goalie Jake Allen, playing in his first NHL game in 18 months, made 24 saves and came within 9:32 of earning the second Blues shutout in three nights. Brian Elliott didn't allow a goal to the Los Angeles Kings in a 1-0 shootout loss Thursday.

Allen, who shut out Arizona in his only other start against the Coyotes, was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2012-13 when he went 9-4-0 with a .905 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average. He spent all last season with the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League.

The win may prove costly for the Blues, who lost center Paul Stastny to an upper-body injury on his first shift. Stastny was hit on separate plays by Martin Hanzal and Mikkel Boedker and skated to the dressing room holding his left hand less than a minute into the game.

St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said Stastny is day-to-day and will miss the game at the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

Hanzal was helped off the ice with an apparent lower-body injury in the second period after he was hooked down in front of the St. Louis goal by Blues forward Patrik Berglund.

Arizona goalie Mike Smith allowed six goals on 36 shots to continue his tough start to the season. He has allowed 16 goals in three starts.

Lauri Korpikoski scored the Coyotes goal on the power play at 10:28 of the third period to spoil Allen's shutout bid.

Smith made 14 saves in the first period, when he looked sharp. He stopped Tarasenko three times in the first 14 minutes, once on a point-blank chance off a behind-the-back pass from Schwartz. But when Oliver Ekman-Larsson was sent off for interfering with St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, the Blues needed only 17 seconds to cash in.

Smith stopped Schwartz and Tarasenko in a wild scramble in front of the net before the puck went in off Backes' skate at 17:42 for his second goal. It was the ninth first-period goal the Coyotes have allowed through four games.

The Blues dominated the second period. After killing two Arizona power plays, Backes chased down a rebound behind the Coyotes net and fed a wide-open Steen inside the right circle. Steen beat Smith with a shot to the far post at 11:42, and the Blues were off and running.

Schwartz made it 3-0 on the power play 1:12 later. Arizona's Michael Stone failed to clear the zone twice before leaving Schwartz all alone to pop a Tarasenko feed past Smith.

Schwartz, who was credited with an assist on Backes' goal, made it 4-0 less than a minute into the third period on another point-blank chance, collecting a Lehtera faceoff win in the slot and shooting it by Smith.

After Korpikoski got Arizona on the board, Lehtera made it 5-1 when he beat Smith between the pads on the power play with 7:58 left in the game. Schwartz got his hat trick on a power-play goal with 2.1 second left.

The Coyotes were 10-for-10 on the penalty kill this season before allowing four power-play goals to St. Louis on Saturday.

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