Coyotes 3, Blues 2 (OT)
ST. LOUIS -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored 56 seconds into overtime and Mike Smith stopped 37 shots to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Phoenix (13-4-2), winners of seven of eight, is off to its best start since the 199it began the 1998-99 season with a 14-2-2 mark.
St. Louis lost for just the second time in eight games.
Defenseman Ekman-Larsson took a pass from center Mike Ribeiro and whipped a shot behind St. Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak from the middle of the ice.
Smith turned in several highlight-reel stops in the third period when the Coyotes were outshot 13-3. He robbed center Derek Roy with an eye-popping glove save to keep the game tied 2-2 with 7:05 left in regulation.
Smith, who has faced a league-high 555 shots this season, improved to 11-3-2 with his fourth win in five November starts.
St. Louis defenseman Roman Polak tied the game at 2 with 17:11 remaining in the third period on a wrist shot off a perfect cross-ice pass from center Alexander Steen, who has a point in a career-best 11 straight games.
Left winger Mikkel Boedker broke a 1-1 tie by converting on a 2-on-1 off a nifty pass from center Rob Klinkhammer with 31 seconds left in the opening period.
It was Boedker's fourth goal of the season, all have come on the road.
Right winger David Moss scored his first goal of the season for Phoenix, blasting a wrist shot behind Halak at 7:49 of the opening period to tie the game at 1.
St. Louis took a 1-0 lead on a goal by center Maxim Lapierre just 5:53 into the contest.
NOTES: Phoenix C Martin Hanzal missed the contest with an illness. He is considered day-to-day. ... The Blues have scored first in their last eight games. ... Phoenix won a league-best three games when trailing after two periods. ... St. Louis D Jordan Leopold is out for up to two months with a broken knuckle on the index finger of his right hand. ... Blues LW Brenden Morrow returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing the previous five games with an upper-body injury. ... St. Louis LW Alexander Steen played in his 200th game as a member of the Blues. ... Coyotes G Mike Smith entered the contest having faced a league-high 516 shots. ... The Coyotes' 12-4-2 start is their best since they began the 1998-99 season with a 14-2-2 mark. ... Phoenix has been outscored 11-19 in the first period this season.
