Blues Blank Coyotes

Coach Joel Quenneville has seen the St. Louis Blues win the most games in the NHL this season. Their victory over the Phoenix Coyotes might have been the best one yet.

Roman Turek made 16 saves to record his fifth shutout as the Blues extended their unbeaten streak to four with a 4-0 win Tuesday night against the Coyotes.

"It's up there," said Quenneville, as to where this game ranks with the rest of the wins. "We certainly were rock solid across the board."

"It was like trying to start a fire but the wood was wet," Phoenix coach Bob Francis said. "They don't give you much. They'll come at you hard and give you very little."

St. Louis got balanced offense with 11 players earning points. Jeff Finley, Michal Handzus, Marty Reasoner and Scott Young scored goals as the Blues peppered Sean Burke with 30 shots.

Lubos Bartecko and Pavol Demitra assisted on Handzus' goal, giving that line 56 points in the last 17 games.

"That was exactly the way we should be playing when we're playing our best," Finley said. "It took us almost two periods to get that second goal, but we felt like were in control of the game throughout."

Burke, in the Phoenix goalsaw the same thing.

"They outplayed us from minute one," he said. "They had the better of the play and they were the better team."

Turek, with 35 wins, is one away from tying Curtis Joseph's team record for most in a season established in 1993-94.

The St. Louis goalie downplayed his role in Tuesday's win.

"I don't feel like it was my shutout," Turek said. "I feel like it was the team's. It's because of the way we play, not because of me."

St. Louis, 9-1-1 in its last 11, lowered its league-leading goals against average to 1.99. The Blues have allowed two goals or less in 47 of 66 games and are 37-3-7 in those contests.

Burke kept it scoreless until Finley put in his second goal at 7:19 of the second period. Finley broke in 2-on-1 with Tyson Nash, and scored on a rebound on Nash's slap shot.

With just 43 seconds left in the period, Handzus gave the Blues some insurance thanks to some nice work by Bartecko. After firing a centering pass from Demitra wide of the goal, Bartecko tracked the puck down behind the net and fed Handzus in front. Handzus put it over Burke for his 22nd goal.

Reasoner scored his eighth off a rebound of Dave Ellett's shot at 12:39 of the third. Young scored on a pass from Craig Conroy at 14:29.

St. Louis is the only team with a perfect record (29-0-0) when leading after two periods.

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