Berglund's two goals lead way past Coyotes

Published: March 9, 2013 

St. Louis Blues center Patrick Berglund knew he was getting close to the net. Beyond that, his soon-to-be goal was a blur.

Berglund scored twice in a span of 2:12 and the Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes 6-3 late Thursday to end a two-game losing streak.

Next up for the Blues (12-9-2, 26 points) is a 3 p.m. game Saturday in San Jose.

Berglund gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 7:59 of the second period with a nifty play, kicking a pass from David Perron from his skate to his stick and backhanding a shot that deflected off Derek Morris' stick into the top of the net.

"I almost blacked out. I don't know what happened," Berglund said. "It was a really quick pick up and I turned around to try and protect it. I was getting closer and closer to the net so I just turned around and threw it backhand. I looked up and didn't really know where I was aiming."

Blues rookie goalie Jake Allen came up big once again, stopping 23 shots to win for the fourth time in five starts.

Berglund had tied the game at 5:47 of the period after Mike Smith blocked a shot by Perron high in the air. The puck landed just outside the right faceoff circle, where Berglund pounced after two Coyotes skated past, and beat Smith to his glove side.

It was a nine-point night for Berglund's line, which included Perron and Chris Stewart. Stewart had a goal and three assists and Perron also had three assists, with Berglund collecting two goals.

The line has 14 points in the last two games.

"There were times, if you look at the game, where they're scoring goals with red jerseys around," Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We're just not doing much. That's concerning."

Scott Nichol, Vladimir Sobotka and Alex Pietrangelo also scored as the Blues won after two straight losses to leapfrog Phoenix into seventh place in the Western Conference.

"Points are at a premium right now, so we'll take the two points," Stewart said.

David Moss scored a short-handed goal, Keith Yandle had a power-play goal and Shane Doan added his second goal in three games for the Coyotes, who have lost two straight.

After Stewart gave the Blues a 1-0 lead on a long rebound to the bottom of the right circle, a series of defensive miscues led to four of the next five goals.

Boyd Gordon stripped the puck from Pietrangelo just inside the Coyotes' blue line and sent Moss ahead with a quick pass for a breakaway goal late in the opening period to tie the game 1-1.

Nineteen seconds into the second, the Blues failed to clear their zone after Allen settled the puck behind the net. Martin Hanzal stole the puck from Barret Jackman and pushed it to Doan in the right faceoff circle to make it 2-1.

Jaden Schwartz took the puck off Kyle Chipchura's stick, skated in front and slid a quick pass to Nichol for a one-timer and a 4-2 Blues lead midway through the second period.

Sobotka got a pass from Stewart and fired into the open right side of the net to make it 5-2.

Pietrangelo scored with 4:56 left. Yandle capped the scoring with his goal with 25 seconds to go.

Notes

The Blues had been outscored 17-0 in the second period since Feb. 1 until its three-goal outburst.

*The Blues have won three straight road games against the Coyotes for the first time since 1999-2000.

Order Reprint Back to Top

Find a Home

$439,000 O'Fallon
4 bed, 3 full bath. Amazing, custom designed, nearly 5,000...

Find a Car

Search New Cars
Ads by Yahoo!