Coming off a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-0) looked to continue their six-game road trip in St. Louis, Missouri in hopes of adding their first back-to-back wins of the season against the St. Louis Blues (4-2-0). Instead, Carolina lost 4-3 with a lot of room to improve.
Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kotchetkov made his second start of the season just two games after his win against the New Jersey Devils, but couldn’t compete with Blues goaltender Joel Hofer. Hofer made game-saving blocks with a .925 save percentage while Kotchetkov only had a .789 save percentage.
Both teams were tied at 3-3 when Hurricanes center Martin Necas fumbled the puck, giving it right to Blues left wing Jake Neighbors. Neighbors sent the puck to Blues right wing Kasperi Kapanen who fired a wrist shot past Kotchetkov making it 4-3 Blues.
The Hurricanes dominated the first period with 19 shots as opposed to the Blues four. Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov opened up the scoring just two minutes into the period after getting the puck from Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho and Hurricanes center Seth Jarvis. Jarvis put in the work and fought for the loose puck in the left corner behind the Blues net getting a pass off to Aho who found Svechnikov right at the post.
Ranking 14th in the league in the 2024-2025 season with a 78.6% penalty kill, the Carolina Hurricanes knew improvements needed to be made fast. They did exactly that, killing all four penalties they drew in the game.
Additionally, Hurricanes defender Shayne Gostisbehere scored the only power-play goal of the night in the third period, marking his third-straight game with a goal.
The St. Louis Blues took over the second period with three goals in just over three minutes. The Joseph brothers each tallied at least one point with Blues defenseman Pierre-Oliver Joseph assisting in Blues right wing Mathieu Joseph’s turnaround goal. The goal got the momentum going for the Blues, leading to a quick two-goal follow-up and making it 3-1 Blues within just minutes.
The Hurricanes found themselves trailing for the rest of the game and couldn’t regain the lead. They had many chances to come back including a shot taken from Aho where Hofer was caught out of position but was blocked by Blues defender Colton Parayko who threw himself in front of the goal.
Minutes after Gostibehere’s goal in the third, Hurricanes center Jack Roslovic tied the game 3-3 with a slap shot, recording a goal for the second game in a row. Toward the end of the period, Kotchetkov left the ice to bring on a sixth skater, but the Hurricanes had no luck in finding the game-tying goal.
Despite being outshot 40-19, the Blues remained in control through the second and third periods and were rewarded with two points.
Next, the Hurricanes will take on the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday at 9 p.m. for their third game in a row on the road.
