The Carolina Hurricanes massacred the St. Louis Blues to the tune of a 7-2 bludgeoning on Saturday, March 26.
Seven different Hurricanes (43-15-7) logged multipoint nights as Carolina stomped a struggling St. Louis (35-20-9) squad that now has nine points in its last 10 games. Right wing Andrei Svechnikov celebrated his 22nd birthday in style by scoring two goals, making him the Canes’ joint-top finisher on the night along with center Seth Jarvis.
Despite the special occasion, Svechnikov kept the focus on the team’s overall effort in the game.
“I think my birthday present was to win this game,” Svechnikov said. “That’s the fun part for sure.”
Center Martin Nečas opened the scoring action with a short-handed goal in the first period, but the opening 20 minutes was simply the calm before the storm with the latter two periods featuring four goals each.
“It wasn’t one of our better games, just everything we shot went in,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “It’s just the law of averages. You get enough chances and eventually they go in, and tonight was clearly that.”
Carolina tacked two more goals before the Blues could find the net, but the abundant scoring was not the only entertainment to be had. After a hard hit that sent center Derek Stepan to the locker room, center Jesperi Kotkaniemi got to work in accumulating the bulk of his 19 penalty minutes on the night.
Kotkaniemi dropped the gloves against Alexei Toropchenko, connecting on several punches right in front of the Canes bench. Even though Toropchenko stands four inches taller and weighs in at over 20 pounds heavier than Kotkaniemi, the Blues’ big man took a beating from the enraged Kotkaniemi, who took five for fighting, two for instigating and 10 for misconduct for his efforts.
“He’s an animal, and he can fight,” Svechnikov said. “You can see that. He’s one of those guys who’s gonna step up for sure.”
Goaltender Antti Raanta did well in net for Carolina, saving 30 of 32 shots to keep his squad in front for 60 minutes. While the Canes skaters poked puck after puck past Blues netminder Ville Husso, Raanta got the job done on his end of the ice.
The lopsided win sets a positive for this road trip as much tougher opponents lie ahead for the Hurricanes. Carolina will travel to the nation’s capital to face off against the Capitals on Monday, March 28 before taking on the Lightning in Tampa Bay the following evening. Puck drops in Washington, D.C. at 7 p.m.
