In a battle of two of the NHL’s hottest teams, it was the Carolina Hurricanes that prevailed, topping the St. Louis Blues 5-2 Friday night inside PNC Arena.
The Canes (35-23-6) battled out of an early 1-0 hole, getting goals from five different players to overcome the Blues (34-24-6). Carolina forward Sebastian Aho scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, taking advantage of a big mistake from St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen to grab a lead the Hurricanes would hold onto for the remainder of the game.
“It was a good battle,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “With both teams, you kind of knew what was coming. They’re a great team right now, firing on all cylinders, and I think we are too. It was two teams playing very similar styles and that’s what you saw out there.”
Carolina forward captain Justin Williams and defenseman Justin Faulk scored goals three minutes apart in the opening period to give the Canes their first lead of the night, and forward Jordan Staal added an insurance fourth goal in the third period.
“We learned we can play a tight game as well,” Staal said. “They’re a big strong team that plays a tight game and doesn’t give up much. We played the same style. It was two good teams playing tough minutes every time you’re out there. There’s little plays and we were out there making them. Obviously, there’s mistakes but we kept them to a minimum and found a way to get the win.”
Rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov added an empty netter at the end of the game for the Canes. For the Blues, forward Oskar Sundqvist and defenseman Vince Dunn found the scoresheet.
In net, Curtis McElhinney helped lead the Hurricanes to victory, stopping 21 of 23 shots faced. McElhinney was strong for the Canes, with his only two goals allowed coming off deflections. Allen had a rough night between the pipes for St. Louis, giving up four goals on 23 shots faced.
“It was a big challenge for us tonight,” McElhinney said. “I think everyone was ready to go from the drop, which was great to see. Obviously, St. Louis has been playing some great hockey as of late. Phenomenal effort, a couple weird bounces I think, but other than that, we played a great game.”
St. Louis opened up the scoring seven minutes into the game, as Sundqvist redirected a shot from Dunn. Dunn did well to keep the puck through a check from Canes forward Brock McGinn, and fired the puck in front of net. Sundqvist got his stick to the puck, sending it over McElhinney’s shoulder into the net.
The Canes answered back less than a minute later, as Williams blasted a one-timer past Allen to tie things up at 1-1. After forward Nino Niederreiter won an offensive-zone faceoff, defenseman Brett Pesce and Williams exchanged the puck a few times before Williams fired to tally his 18th goal of the season.
“He keeps doing it,” Brind’Amour said. “Your best players have to be your best players, and he just finds a way.”
Carolina made it a 2-1 game just past the halfway mark of the first period, as Faulk sniped a wrister from the point through traffic and into the roof of the net for his eighth goal of the season. Niederreiter collected his second assist of the period, delivering a crisp pass back to Faulk to set up the goal.
Dunn tied things at 2-2 for the Blues two minutes into the second period, scoring from the point on an unusual looking goal. Dunn’s shot took an early deflection and knuckled end-over-end through the zone, floating past McElhinney, who never saw the puck as it found the back of the net and tied the game.
Allen made a critical mistake on a Blues’ power play late in the second period and Aho made him pay. On a cleared puck off the stick of Canes’ forward Teuvo Teravainen, the Blues’ goaltender went way out of the crease to try and collect the puck, but couldn’t quite reel it in after a bounce off the boards.
All-Star forward Aho used his elite speed to chase down the puck after Allen’s miscue, wrapping it around the back of the net to score past the outstretched stick of a diving Allen. It was Aho’s fourth short-handed goal of the season, tying him for the NHL lead.
“I saw him going after it and I was pretty close,” Aho said. “He mishandled it and it was just a lucky bounce.”
After a flurry of Blues’ chances that were snuffed out by McElhinney in the third period, Staal doubled the Hurricanes lead with a snipe into the roof of the net from inside the left circle. Teravainen fed a pass between two defenders to the stick of Staal, who fired the one-timer past the glove of Allen to make it 4-2. It was Staal’s first goal since returning from a lengthy injury leave last week.
St. Louis pulled Allen with a couple minutes remaining in the game, and Svechnikov sealed the win for Carolina with an empty-net goal with just over a minute to play. It was Svechnikov’s first goal in nine games.
The Canes had some help off the ice tonight as well, with former heavyweight champion boxer Evander Holyfield in the building to deliver a pregame speech to the team and take part in the postgame Storm Surge.
“I’ve met a lot of people in my day,” Brind’Amour said. “That was probably the most special. I remember I was playing when he was the man and he was a real inspiration for me, and to see that guy walk through the locker room and tell the guys exactly what I hoped he would say, it was a great moment for me.”
The win for the Hurricanes has Carolina in the Metropolitan Division’s third playoff spot at the end of the night. The Canes will be back in action Saturday night, taking on the Florida Panthers on the road.
After leftwinger Jordan Martinook was knocked down by St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, the two took off their gloves to fight in PNC Arena, Friday, March 1. The Hurricanes won 5-2.
