Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Phoenix Coyotes (7-4-0) at St. Louis Blues (5-4-1), 8 p.m.

The St. Louis Blues will try for consecutive wins for the first time since the opening days of the season when they welcome the surprising Phoenix Coyotes for a Western Conference battle at Scottrade Center.

The Blues began the 2009-10 campaign by sweeping a two-game series against Detroit in Stockholm, Sweden, but have since posted a mediocre 3-4-1 record. However, St. Louis has won three of its last five contests and is coming off Wednesday's decisive victory at Carolina.

David Perron finished with two goals and assist, as the Blues sent the Hurricanes to a seventh consecutive loss with a 5-2 triumph at RBC Center.

Yan Stastny, Jay McClement and Andy McDonald also scored for St. Louis, while Chris Mason made 34 saves in the victory.

"We were in pretty good position on some of those goals," Blues head coach Andy Murray said. "Created some turnovers and they worked out for us, there was good timing in our goals."

St. Louis could without defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo again after he suffered an upper-body injury Saturday against Dallas. Colaiacovo, who is questionable for tonight, was injured on a low hit by Stars centerman Steve Ott, who was suspended two games by the NHL for the incident.

The Blues are kicking off a three-game homestand tonight and are 2-3-0 as the host this season. St. Louis will also welcome Florida and Calgary during the residency.

The Coyotes, who are 7-4-0 on the year, also recorded a road victory on Wednesday night as they disposed of the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Keith Yandle dished out three assists, and Jason LaBarbera turned aside 31-of-32 shots, as Phoenix scored four unanswered goals to take down the Blue Jackets, 4-1, at Nationwide Arena.

James Vandermeer, Zbynek Michalek, Martin Hanzal and Robert Lang each had a goal for the Coyotes, who snapped a brief two-game skid.

"We just wanted to play a grittier game. We were fortunate to get some power- play goals, and we got some big saves from our goaltender. There were a lot of small gritty plays that we had to make and we got them done. That makes a big difference for our hockey club and the results of the game," Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said.

Tonight's test marks the close of a three-game road trip for the Coyotes, who are 4-2-0 as the guest this year. Phoenix will return home next for a two-game homestand, beginning with Saturday's battle against Anaheim.

The Coyotes posted a 3-2 overtime win when they met the Blues in Arizona on October 15 to end a four-game slide against St. Louis. Phoenix has dropped its last two games at Scottrade Center, but has taken six of eight overall in the Gateway City.