Smith, Lyon spark Hurricanes past Blues

Some unlikely heroes powered the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, Nov. 13.

With right wing Nino Niederreiter on injury reserve as well as defender Brett Pesce, center Martin Necas and goaltender Antti Raanta all out of the lineup, defender Brendan Smith chose an opportune time to score his first goal as a Carolina Hurricane. With 2:57 left in regulation, Smith fired in a go-ahead goal with a pellet of a shot from point to secure a Canes win.

Goalkeeper Alex Lyon stepped up as well to the tune of 27 saves, granting some much-needed rest for regular netminder Frederik Andersen.

“We’re missing three big, big players out of our group,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “If you count Freddie not playing tonight, that’s another one. We need guys to step in and play and make an impact, not just take up space. They’ve got to make an impact and they do.”

While Smith’s goal sealed the deal in terms of scoring, Lyon made some key plays down the stretch as well. The Blues emptied their net for an extra skater not long after the game-winner, but Lyon held firm in the closing minutes to see home the victory. For a journeyman that has bounced between the NHL and AHL for most of his career, Lyon credited goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder for the goalie’s poise under the spotlight.

“I’m bouncing from the American League to the NHL; I just don’t think that there’s a giant difference,” Lyon said. “A lot of it is confidence, a lot of it is feel, comparability. [Schonfelder] stresses those, he makes you feel good about yourself every day. I like his style a lot.”

The Hurricanes’ stalwarts aided the winning effort as well, especially in the passing game. Carolina’s first two goals resulted from some keen vision as a cross-ice pass by center Sebastian Aho found defender Brady Skjei for the opening goal and Skjei’s first of the season. Defender Tony DeAngelo executed a similar play by finding Aho in space to make it 2-0 early in the second period.

“[DeAngelo] can see the ice, especially on the power play,” Aho said. “He’s the quarterback there; a lot of plays flow through him.”

St. Louis did not go down quietly by any means, however, staying in the game all the way to the final buzzer. A long rebound off a save by Lyon fell to Pavel Buchnevich who put the puck in the back of the net for the Blues’ first goal.

Just a day after the Canes suffered a third-period breakdown against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Blues looked to spoil the Canes’ efforts once more. Only 48 seconds into the third period, a scrappy pass into the slot from out wide found Vladimir Tarasenko, who took care of business to tie the game.

The two squads remained deadlocked right up until Smith’s goal, but Carolina’s refusal to repeat its collapse from the previous night kept them in the game long enough to take the lead.

“We’re playing two good teams,” Brind’Amour said. “St. Louis is one of the better teams. They’re going to get their chances and they capitalized. I thought we did better tonight in getting back to our game right away.”

The Hurricanes now look towards a six-game road trip, first heading west for a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.