The St. Louis Blues took down the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 Saturday night time. Regardless of a irritating first interval, the Blues fought again with a dominant second interval earlier than holding on within the third to earn the victory. Whereas there’s a lot to work on, there have been many positives from the sport.
First Interval
Carolina dominated the primary interval, with Andrei Svechnikov scoring the one objective simply 1:21 into the sport. After Colton Parayko misplaced management of the puck, Sebastian Aho arrange Seth Jarvis, who delivered a cross-crease go for Svechnikov to simply convert. The Hurricanes outshot the Blues 19 to 4 within the interval, with each Svechnikov and rookie Jackson Blake registering 4 photographs, whereas Jarvis added three. Jack Roslovic and Jordan Martinook additionally had stable performances however couldn’t discover the again of the web.
After a shutout in opposition to the New York Islanders on Oct. 17, Hofer constructed on his sturdy play, stopping the ultimate 18 photographs he confronted within the first interval to maintain the Blues only one objective behind. He confronted an anticipated targets whole of 1.27, in response to MoneyPuck, and did a powerful job limiting rebounds.
Second Interval
Though the Blues struggled within the first interval, they shortly rebounded. Halfway by the second interval, Mathieu Joseph acquired a go from captain Brayden Schenn proper in entrance of the web, spun round, and shot the puck previous Pyotr Kochetkov, tying the sport at 1-1. Mathieu’s brother, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, additionally assisted on the objective.
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Only a minute later, Zack Bolduc received a puck battle, permitting Jake Neighbours to seize the puck and fireplace it by site visitors, scoring to provide St. Louis a 2-1 lead. Lower than two minutes later, Dylan Holloway acquired a go from Philip Broberg and, with some spectacular strikes, slipped the puck previous Kochetkov, extending the Blues’ result in 3-1. This objective marked Holloway’s first as a Blue, whereas Broberg prolonged his level streak to 6 video games to start out the season in his debut with St. Louis. Regardless of being outshot 27-15 within the interval, the Blues headed into the ultimate body with a 3-1 benefit.
Third Interval
Simply over a minute into the third interval, Shayne Gostisbehere scored his first objective of the night time and third of the season on the ability play, with assists from Aho and Svechnikov. Lower than 90 seconds after that, Roslovic continued his sturdy night time by scoring his first objective of the sport with a slapshot off a cross-ice go from Jack Drury, tying the rating at 3-3.
The tie lasted simply over a minute earlier than Kasperi Kapanen picked up a free puck, raced into the offensive zone, and went backhand to forehand, beating Kochetkov on the glove aspect to place the Blues again within the lead. Regardless of going through stress late within the interval, St. Louis managed to keep up their one-goal benefit, securing their second consecutive victory at dwelling.
Sport Standouts
Hofer was an apparent standout for the Blues. He stopped 37 of 40 photographs and saved the Blues within the recreation regardless of a disappointing first interval. Whereas Jordan Binnington has impressed, Hofer could quickly be pushing for the starter’s web, a debate the crew is glad to have.
Neighbours had one other sturdy night time, tallying a objective and an help. The younger winger regarded sharp on his edges and did a fantastic job at facilitating play in transition regardless of having simply 13:45 of ice time, a quantity sure to extend.
Regardless of the loss, Svechnikov stood out, registering a objective and an help. He had 19:38 of ice time, the third most amongst Carolina’s forwards, and can look to construct on his sturdy efficiency.
The Blues and Hurricanes will every have two days off earlier than suiting up once more on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The Blues will host the undefeated Winnipeg Jets at Enterprise Heart, whereas the Hurricanes will head to Rogers Place to face the Edmonton Oilers.
