Boyd scores twice as Coyotes roll past Blues at home

*Photo from The Rink Live*

   College arena magic is a real thing. Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists, Travis Boyd scored twice, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the St. Louis Blues with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night in Tempe.

   Keller and Boyd led the Coyotes on the scoreboard, with Nick Schmaltz and Christian Fischer each registering a goal and an assist to go with two assists from Mattias Maccelli and Barrett Hayton. At their temporary home of Mullett Arena, the Coyotes are 15-11-3 this season.

   Boyd said of playing at Mullett that "I wouldn't say we really had this kind of home-ice advantage last year. At the end of the day, this is a tough place to come in and play, and I think our record speaks to that. We're excited for the stretch run, and hopefully we can mess up some teams trying to make the playoffs."

   Pavel Buchnevich started the scoring, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead just 2:12 into the game on his 19th goal of the season. Fischer scored at the 12:53 mark of the first to make it 1-1 with Maccelli and Connor Mackey assisting. Nick Schmaltz scored the only goal of the second period to make it 2-1 Coyotes, assisted by Keller and Hayton.

   Boyd scored 2:01 into the 3rd period to pad the Coyotes lead to 3-1 on his 10th goal of the season. Buchnevich scored again for the Blues to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Coyotes then responded with goals from Boyd, Keller, and Lawson Crouse to wrap up the 6-2 win, with Hayton, Maccelli, and Fischer among the skaters getting assists.

   It was Karel Vejmelka who started for the Coyotes, getting the win to improve to 17-19-5 on the season. Vejmelka stopped 40 shots out of the 42 he was tested with by the Blues, which was good for a .952 save percentage.

   Fischer said of Vejmelka's performance "That first couple minutes, not sure what we were getting ourselves into, but we regrouped really well and Veggie always is good. It's easy to say, but almost every game we’re saying our goalies' names, but it’s true."

   Getting the start for the Blues was Jordan Binnington, who couldn't outduel Vejmelka and got the loss. Binnington turned away only 21 out of the 27 shots on goal the Coyotes had, mustering a paltry .778 save percentage. His record dropped to 21-23-5 in 49 starts.

   Blues head coach Craig Berube lamented the loss postgame, saying that "We couldn't find the back of the net tonight, and I think that tells the story. We had tons of chances, breakaways, power plays. Give credit to their goalie too. He was sharp."

   Both teams resume play on Thursday night at home. Connor Ingram is expected to start for the Coyotes as they take on the Nashville Predators, while Binnington is the favorite to start as the Blues face the San Jose Sharks.