ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Jake Neighbours – Upper-Body (Will be re-evaluated in 5 weeks; announced on Feb. 20)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 243
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
March
6 – Signed college free agent defenseman Anton Malmstrom to a two-year, entry-level contract
3 – Acquired forward Jakub Vrana from Detroit in exchange for Dylan McLaughlin and a 2025 7th-round draft pick
2 – Signed forward Sammy Blais to a one-year, $1,000,000 contract extension
1 – Signed defenseman Michael Buchinger to a three-year, entry-level contract
BLUES vs. COYOTES
- The Blues and Coyotes will meet for their 3rd and final matchup of the season
- The Blues are 1-1-0 against Arizona this season, winning 6-5 in OT on Feb. 11 at home and losing 5-0 on Jan. 26 at Arizona
- The Blues went 3-1-0 against Arizona last season (1-1-0 at home, 2-0-0 away)
- The Blues are 6-4-1 in their last 11 games against Arizona
- The Blues are 2-1-0 in their last 3 trips to Arizona
- The Blues are also 4-3-0 in their last 7 trips to Arizona
- The Blues have scored at least 5 goals in 4 of their last 6 games against the Coyotes, outscoring them 25-22 in those 6 games (4-2-0 record)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
3/9 – vs. San Jose
3/11 – at Columbus
3/12 – vs. Vegas
3/15 – vs. Minnesota
3/17 – at Washington
A LOOK AHEAD
- The Blues will finish their 3-game road trip to start the month of March on Tuesday in Arizona (1-1-0 so far)
- The Blues will play 13 more games in March (7 away; 6 home)
- 9 of the Blues’ remining 13 games in March will come against Western Conference opponents (4 against the Central)
EXTRA NUGGETS
- The Blues are 22-8-2 this season when scoring first
-The Blues are 1 of 6 teams to record 3 multi-goal third period comeback wins this season (1. Kings, 4 /2. Islanders/Ducks/Canucks/Blackhawks, 3)
- The Blues have 9 players who have scored at least 10 goals this season, which shares 5th in the NHL (1. Seattle, 13 players)
- Since Dec. 11, 35 games, the Blues are 80 for 95 on the penalty kill (84.2%), which ranks 8th in the NHL over that span (1. Boston, 96 for 110, 87.3%)
ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is winless in its last three games (0-2-1) but is 4-4-2 in its last 10 outings
• Nick Schmaltz has tallied 8 pts (4-4-8) over the two contests against St. Louis this season, posting four points in both showings. The 8 pts are tied with Mikko Rantanen for the most an NHLer has posted against the Blues in 2022-23
• The Coyotes are 1-0-1 against the Blues this season. If the Yotes pick up at least one standings point, it’d be the first time since 2017-
18 that the Coyotes did not suffer a regulation loss to St. Louis in a season-series
LAST GAME
Devils 5, Coyotes 4 (OT) – March 5, 2023 – Mullett Arena
ARI Goals: Maccelli (5), Kassian (2), Schmaltz (19), McBain (9)
NJD Goals: Meier (32), Boqvist (6, 7), Severson (5), Hischier (27)
ARI Goalie: Ingram (O) – 35 svs on 40 shots
NJD Goalie: Vanecek (W) – 25 svs on 29 shots
PP: 0-2 PK: 0-1
Notes: ARI erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period to force OT…Matias Maccelli scored for the second time in his last six games to boost his season point total to 31 (5-26-31) and grab third in the NHL’s rookie point race…Clayton Keller reached 60 pts this season (25-35-60) with an assist…Nick Schmaltz got back on the scoresheet with a goal, the fifth game in his last seven outings he’s lit the lamp in…Jack McBain chipped in two points (1-1-2), including the game-tying goal with exactly two minutes remaining in regulation; Sunday was McBain’s second multi-point game of the season (12/29 vs TOR)…Juuso Valimaki tallied two assists for his second multi-assist performance in his last 3 GP…Victor Soderstrom picked up an assist for the second straight outing, marking the second time in his career he’s found the scoresheet in consecutive games (May 7-8, 2021)…Zack Kassian recorded his second goal and point of the season…Liam O’Brien picked up the primary assist on Kassian’s goal…Connor Mackey made his Coyotes debut, playing 13:33 and earning one assist…ARI committed one minor penalty in the game, T-fewest PIMs (2) in a game this season MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Total man games lost: 123 games
Liam O’Brien – 23 (12/17 – 2/6) – Upper-Body | 2 (2/11 – 2/13) – Upper-Body
Jakob Chychrun – 16 (10/13 – 11/17) – Upper-Body
Matias Maccelli – 16 (12/27 – 1/24) – Lower-Body
Nick Schmaltz – 15 (10/15 – 11/17) – Upper-Body | 1 (12/31) – Upper-Body
Zack Kassian – 9 (11/1 – 11/21) – Lower-Body
Connor Timmins – 9 (10/15 – 11/5) – Upper-Body
Shayne Gostisbehere – 8 (1/26 – 2/18) – Upper-Body
Andrew Ladd – 6 (N/A) – Undisclosed
Josh Brown – 3 (11/23 – 11/27) – Upper-Body | 4 (2/26 – 3/3)
Ben McCartney – 3 (10/13 – 10/17) – Lower-Body
Juuso Valimaki – 1 (11/23) – Upper-Body
Lawson Crouse – 1 (12/1) – Illness | 4 (1/19 – 1/24) – Upper-Body
Christian Fischer – 1 (3/3) – Illness
Connor Ingram – 1 (1/8) – Illness
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-3/4 – Assigned F Milos Kelemen, D Michael Kesselring and D Vladislav Kolyachonok to Tucson (AHL)
-3/2 – Acquired 2023 3rd round pick and D Michael Kesselring from EDM in exchange for F Nick Bjugstad and D Cam Dineen
-3/2 – Acquired 2023 6th-round draft pick from CBJ and F Jakub Voracek in exchange for G Jon Gillies
-3/1 – Recalled D Vladislav Kolyachonok from Tucson (AHL)
-3/1 – Acquired 2023 1st round pick, 2024 2nd round pick and 2026 2nd round pick from OTT in exchange for D Jakob Chychrun
-3/1 – Acquired 2026 3rd round draft pick from Carolina in exchange for D Shayne Gostisbehere
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
DATE TIME (AZ) OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Thur, March 9 7pm vs NSH Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM
Sat, March 11 4pm at COL Ball Arena Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620
Sun, March 12 6:30pm vs MIN Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM
YOTES & NOTES
- Tonight is the third and final ARI-STL meeting this season. Arizona beat STL 5-0 in the first matchup on 1/26 at Mullett Arena, but the Blues captured the second one 6-5 in OT on 2/11
- Arizona erased a 5-2 deficit in the 2/11 matchup to force overtime, a regulation rally that was capped by a Lawson Crouse goal with 57 seconds left in the third period
- STL marks the first Central Division team that the Coyotes will conclude the season-series with
- The Blues are one of the two Central Division teams that the Coyotes only play three games against this season (WPG)
- Nick Schmaltz has registered eight points (4-4-8) over his 2 GP versus STL this season, including his first career hat trick on 1/26
- The 8 pts vs STL are tied for the most points an NHL skater has posted against the Blues this season (Rantanen)
- Schmaltz’s career goals (9) and assists (18) versus STL are the most he’s tallied against an NHL club
- Since Schmaltz entered the League in 2016-17, his 27 points vs STL are the fourth-most an NHLer has tallied against them in that span (MacKinnon, 37; Wheeler, 30; Scheifele, 30)
- Karel Vejmelka stopped all 33 STL shots on 1/26 for his fourth career shutout (third this season)
- In the 2/11 game, Juuso Valimaki registered 4 assists, just the 15th time in Coyotes/Jets franchise history a defenseman turned in 4+ assists in a game and is tied for the Coyotes record in that criteria since relocating
- Clayton Keller, a Chesterfield, MO native, has produced 9 goals and 21 points in his career against the Blues, both his highest against an NHL team
- Keller comes into tonight with 3-2-5 in his last four showings against STL. He registered two goals and an assist last time he saw them on 2/11
- Connor Mackey scored two of his three career goals against the Blues on 12/16/22 as a member of the Flames
- All three instances of a Coyote recording 4 pts in a game this season came against St. Louis (Schmaltz on 1/26 and 2/11, Valimaki on 2/11)
- The Coyotes power play has operated at 27.9% against the Blues since the start of 2020-21 (12-for-43)
- Coyotes franchise vs Blues
• All-Time: 69-74-18-6
• Home: 39-35-7-2
• Road: 30-39-11-4
• L10: 4-3-3
• STRK: OT1
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE BLUES
Nick Schmaltz…9-18-27…28 career GP
Clayton Keller…9-12-21…23 career GP
Christian Fischer…3-4-7…17 career GP
Barrett Hayton…4-2-6…13 career GP
Juuso Valimaki…0-4-4…3 career GP
Connor Mackey…2-0-2…1 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Keller/Schmaltz, 9)… Assists (Schmaltz, 18)…Points (Schmaltz, 27)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Mackey, 2)… Assists (Valimaki, 4)…Points (Valimaki, 4)
2022-23 COYOTES RECORD ON…
1-Day Rest: 14-20-5
2-Days Rest: 3-3-2
3+ Days Rest: 2-4-2
Back-to-Backs
Coyotes record on…
First Game of Back-to-Back: 2-4-2
Second Game of Back-to-Back: 2-5-1
When ARI and opponent is completing a back-to-back: 2-1-0
When completing a back-to-back where opponent is not: 1-4-1
When ARI is not completing a back-to-back but opponent is: 3-1-2
