| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sean Burke had a better night than his
goaltending counterpart, but it didn't matter because the surging
St. Louis Blues gave Brent Johnson more help.
Burke stopped 43 of 45 shots Saturday night. Johnson made only
18 saves, but came away with a 2-1 victory over the Phoenix
Coyotes.
|  | | Pierre Turgeon, center, set up Dallas Drake's game-winning goal in the third period as the Blues edged the Coyotes on Saturday. |
Johnson, who lowered his league leading goals against average to
1.43, said he did not look at it as a contest against Burke.
Heading into the game, Burke ranked first with a .936 save
percentage and was second in goals against with a 1.81 average.
"I didn't really look at it at the start of the game that it's
me versus him," Johnson said. "But I remembered how our save
percentage and goals against are close."
Phoenix coach Bob Francis said that Burke deserved a better
fate.
"The worst part is here we have Burke standing on his head
making one great save after another and we can't do anything to
help him out," Francis said.
Claude Lemieux scored for the Coyotes, who had earned at least
one point in the standings for eight straight games.
Johnson improved his record to 13-1. The only loss was a 4-3
decision against Vancouver on Nov. 21.
The Blues held Phoenix without a shot for the first 14:54 of the
third period. But that first shot was a quality chance by Joe
Juneau, who was wide open in the slot.
"Sometimes it happens like that," Johnson said. "I got lucky
with the first save, because I just put my stick down, and
thankfully he hit it."
The Coyotes also had a 12-minute stretch in the second period in
which they were held without a shot on goal.
But Francis wasn't complaining.
"For the most part, the guys gave a decent effort," he said.
"Basically, we just shot ourselves in the foot."
Pascal Rheaume scored his first goal, and Dallas Drake got his
seventh for St. Louis. The Blues are 18-1-2 when allowing two goals
or less.
St. Louis took its first lead at 3:30 of the third period, when
Pierre Turgeon got the rebound of Chris Pronger's shot and slid it across
to a wide-open Drake. He put it into the open net to make it 2-1.
"It was a great play by Turg," Drake said. "I was just in the
right spot at the right time."
The Blues have outscored opponents 49-23 in the third period.
Phoenix scored 4:40 into the game, when Jeremy Roenick chased
down a puck in the left circle and slid it toward the net. Johnson
turned that shot away with his stick, but the puck went right to
Lemieux, who put it over the goalie for his sixth goal.
It remained 1-0 until 12:28 of the second, when Rheaume
deflected Al MacInnis' shot from point past Sean Burke. Rheaume was
playing his first game with the Blues since being recalled from the
minors on Friday.
Game notes
Phoenix is one of two teams that have not been shut out.
San Jose is the other. ... Blues winger Pavol Demitra left the game
after being cut by Radoslav Suchy at 11:19 of the second period.
Demitra was taken to St. Louis' Barnes Jewish Hospital for observation after an examination and CT scan revealed blood on his eye. Demitra also has a laceration on his nose. The team will have an update tomorrow. ... Before Rheaume's goal,
Phoenix had killed off 39 of 40 penalties. ... St. Louis outshot
the Coyotes 35-11 during the final two periods. ... Phoenix lost
for the first time in regulation since Lemieux arrived Dec. 6. ...
Before Saturday, the Blues had scored 38 goals in eight games.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Edmonton 3
Montreal 2
Toronto 4
Florida 1
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 0
Pittsburgh 5
Ottawa 3
Boston 1
Tampa Bay 1
Washington 6
Philadelphia 3
St. Louis 2
Phoenix 1
Vancouver 6
San Jose 3
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Chris Pronger Official Site
|
