Blues hold off Coyotes 2-1

ST. LOUIS -- Dmitrij Jaskin got the go-ahead goal for the second time in four games, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Alexander Steen also scored and goalie Jake Allen got a light workload until late for the Blues, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.

St. Louis was penalty-free until defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was whistled for holding with 2:43 to go. The Coyotes pulled their goalie, getting four of their 26 shots on the ensuing power play.

Sam Gagner scored and Mike Smith made 35 saves for Arizona, coming off a shootout victory at Chicago a night earlier.

The Blues are 3-0 against the Coyotes, among the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL. The first two games were blowouts, 6-0 and 6-1.

Jaskin has seven goals in 27 games, four of them giving St. Louis the lead.

The Coyotes, just 2-21-1 when trailing after two periods, held St. Louis without a shot the first half of the third period but got off just five shots themselves in that time.

The Blues had a 14-4 shots advantage in the second period, and Jaskin's backhander gave them the lead at 11:08. Smith was late closing his pads, and the puck trickled through.

Arizona was outshot 10-0 before getting its first shot of the period with just under six minutes to go.

Gagner opened the scoring with his 10th goal on a 2-on-1 break, capitalizing when defenseman Chris Butler whiffed on a clearing effort.

Steen's 18th of the season tied it at 15:10 of the first. Steen tapped home a rebound after T.J. Oshie drove the net and Smith had difficulty handling a high backhander.

NOTES: Blues D Kevin Shattenkirk is rehabbing from abdominal surgery in the Philadelphia area and is expected to rejoin the team soon. There's no timetable for the All-Star's return. ... F Jori Lehtera returned for St. Louis after missing six games with a concussion. ... Steen has three goals and seven assists his last six games against Arizona. ... Gagner and Martin Erat, who earned the first assist on Arizona's early goal, had been scoreless the previous four games.