St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott lays on his back, stopping several Phoenix Coyotes shotsa on goal in the first period at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on April 18, 2013.    UPI/Bill Greenblatt

St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott lays on his back, stopping several Phoenix Coyotes shots in the first period. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Andy McDonald scored the lone shootout goal, and Brian Elliott remained solid in the nets as the St. Louis Blues edged the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 at Scottrade Center. The Blues (25-16-2), who also won 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday night, improved to 5-1 in shootouts and moved into sixth place following the Minnesota Wild’s 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks Thursday night.

Ken Hitchcock was furious after the game, because of a non-call cross check on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo that led to the Coyotes’ lone goal.

Pietrangelo was along the corner boards as multiple players battled for the puck. He was hit from behind by Michal Hanzal and the puck came loose. Radim Vrbata was fed a pass that led to a wide open shot that beat Elliott with 1:07 left in regulation.

In the shootout, McDonald beat Coyotes goalie Chad Johnson with a high wrist shot, and Elliott stopped stopped Vrbata and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in shootout attempts. Antoine Vermette missed wide on the Coyotes’ first attempt.

David Perron scored in regulation for the Blues and Elliott made 33 saves.