The Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t keep up with the St. Louis Blues, letting off the gas in the second period and allowing all three Blues goals in the middle frame.
The Canes (28-15-4), in their first meeting of the season against the Blues (18-21-8), were unable to find the back of the net and were shut out 3-0. Goaltender Joel Hofer, making a total of 33 saves, recorded his fourth shutout, tying two other goaltenders atop the NHL leaderboard.
With little action in the first, the Blues came out with another level of intensity at the start of the second. The Canes, falling short on that intensity, allowed an early short-handed goal from center Nick Bjugstad. Center Otto Stenberg gloved the puck down and created a counter-attack into the Canes’ zone, where Bjugstad came up with the puck and wristed it into the back of the net.
A quick mishap by the Canes’ offense led to another odd-man rush by the Blues. Almost halfway through the period, St. Louis won possession of the puck and kept it out of reach from the Canes’ defensemen. Positioning himself directly in front of the net, winger Dalibor Dvorsky waited for the pass from his linemate and slammed the puck past goaltender Brandon Bussi, doubling the lead.
Just over three minutes later, center Sebastian Aho was sent to the box for interference. Winger Jimmy Snuggerud capitalized on the man-advantage and put one more in the back of the net to finish off the scoring and secure the win. Winger Jordan Martinook, marking his player well into the zone, misread the play, giving Snuggerud plenty of room to perfect his shot.
Even though the Canes had more shots on goal than their opponent, they couldn’t manage to find an opening or capitalize on any of their possible attempts. After losing to Detroit just 24 hours ago, where they also allowed three unanswered goals and had almost double the shots as their opponent, the Canes were hoping for a road win and a turn of events.
“It’s really mental,” said center Jordan Staal. “Obviously, the biggest thing is wrapping your brain right back up after usually an emotional night. Just being prepared and ready to roll, it’s called being a professional.”
The Hurricanes return home on Friday to host the Florida Panthers with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
