GLENDALE, Ariz. _ In the big picture, 2019 was the best of all years for the Blues, but it ended on a down note with a 3-1 loss to Arizona on New Year's Eve in Glendale, Ariz., that snapped the team's eight-game win streak.
It was the second time this season the Coyotes have ended a long win streak for the Blues. When the Blues won seven in a row in October and November, it was Arizona's 3-2 win in a shootout that ended it.
Arizona went ahead to stay with 12:40 to go in the third. It looked like the Blues were going to clear the puck out of their zone but didn't. Instead, the puck squirted past everyone to Phil Kessel, who had no one between him and the net and he beat Jake Allen for his ninth goal of the season.
The Blues had a power play with 6:51 to go in the third and couldn't score, then had their comeback hopes take a hit when Jacob de la Rose was called for boarding with 2:32 to go. The Blues pulled Allen when they forced an offensive zone faceoff, but Nick Schmaltz scored with 52 seconds left to clinch it.
The Blues went 0 for 4 on the power play and had a five-on-three for 1:48 early in the second period with the game tied and couldn't score. The Blues haven't scored a goal in a five-on-three in the regular season since 2016.
The Blues fell behind 1-0 on a power-play goal by Conor Garland with four seconds to go on a penalty on Jordan Kyrou. In their eight-game win streak, the Blues gave up the first goal only twice.
The Blues got even with 5:07 to play in the first on a goal by Tyler Bozak, his eighth of the season. Robert Thomas fed Alexander Steen, who skated the puck deep into Coyotes zone. Just before the goal line, he backhanded a pass to Bozak, who was low in the slow and drove it home.
Bozak has three goals in the past three games and has gotten five of his eight goals since Dec. 14.
The Blues had to hold on late in the period when Ivan Barbashev was called for holding, expressed his dismay, and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct by referee Brad Meier with 3:58 to go in the period. The Coyotes put a lot of shots on Jake Allen in goal, and at one point Jay Bouwmeester lost his stick and had to borrow Steen's, and the team managed to kill it off.
In the second, Arizona was called for penalties 12 seconds apart but as usual, the Blues punted on the chance. They had four shots on goal but didn't produce any really dangerous chances. They also had a standard power play in the second and didn't score. Still, for the period, the Blues outshot Arizona 17-9.
The Blues hit the halfway mark of the season at 26-9-6 and with the best record in the Western Conference.
