Blues 3 - 2 Hurricanes
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Blues slip past Hurricanes in shootout

Jan 31, 2015 - 4:41 AM Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Shattenkirk scored the winner in the shootout to lead the St. Louis Blues in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Shattenkirk was the second shooter for the Blues and he buried a wrister past Cam Ward, while Jake Allen stopped Eric Staal's wrister for the win.

Allen made 26 saves, while David Backes and Ryan Reaves scored in regulation for the Blues, who have won four straight.

"This was a big game to win," said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. "We played back-to-back, and our record was only two games over .500 (11-9-2) on the road. To start off the second half of the season with a big road win is important, so they deserve a lot of credit."

Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who had a three- game winning streak snapped.

Ward stopped the 29 shots he faced through overtime in relief of Anton Khudobin, who was pulled from the start after allowing two goals on three shots.

The Blues needed just 1:48 to get on the board as Steve Ott sent a pass from the left boards to the circle where Reaves beat Khudobin with a wrister for his fifth of the year.

Less than two minutes later, St. Louis made it a 2-0 game when Alex Pietrangelo passed the puck from the right corner back to the circle and Backes one-timed it in.

That spelled the end for Khudobin, with Ward taking over in net.

"The goalie change was more just to slow their momentum down," said Carolina head coach Bill Peters. "It's obviously not a reflection of the goaltender, but we didn't start on time, that's for sure."

The Hurricanes made it a 2-1 game at 10:57 of the opening frame, as Faulk's wrister from the high slot tipped off a Blue and found its way to the back of the net.

Skating on the power play in the second period, Murphy's one-timer from the high slot went through a screen and in for his first of the season at 14:19.

Game Notes

St. Louis plays in Washington on Sunday afternoon ... Carolina plays in New York against the Rangers on Saturday ... The Hurricanes scored on their only power play, while the Blues were held off the board on their lone man advantage.






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