Pyotr Kochetkov stopped all 24 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes scored three times in the second period to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-0 Saturday at Enterprise Center. Carolina improved to 9-2-2.
Sean Walker opened the scoring with a wrist shot 4:45 into the second period, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi made it 2-0 just 20 seconds later. Logan Stankoven added a third goal before the period ended, and the Blues never found a response. Joel Hofer took the loss in net for St. Louis, finishing with 35 saves on 39 shots.
Key Moments: How The Hurricanes Pulled Away
The game stayed scoreless through a quiet first period before Carolina broke it open in the second. Walker’s goal, assisted by Jackson Blake and Sebastian Aho, got the Hurricanes on the board at 4:45. Kotkaniemi struck again moments later off assists from Jordan Martinook and Seth Jarvis, and Stankoven capped the flurry at 13:35 with help from Jarvis, his second assist of the night.
Nikolaj Ehlers closed out the scoring in the third period at 4:30, converting a wrist shot set up by Aho and Andrei Svechnikov to make it 4-0. Carolina finished the game with 39 shots on goal compared to 24 for St. Louis, and the Hurricanes also went 1-for-1 on the power play while killing off the Blues’ lone man-advantage chance.
Top Performers From The Hurricanes Blues 4-0 Shutout
Kochetkov earned the shutout with a perfect 1.000 save percentage, stopping all 22 even-strength shots and both power-play shots he faced. Aho finished with a team-high two points, picking up assists on both the Walker and Ehlers goals. Jarvis notched two assists of his own, setting up both the Kotkaniemi and Stankoven goals.
Walker added three shots on goal and a team-high three blocked shots to go with his goal. K’Andre Miller led all Carolina skaters in ice time at 23:14 and chipped in two takeaways. For St. Louis, Hofer’s 35 saves kept the deficit from growing further, and defenseman Philip Broberg logged a game-high 24:33 in ice time.
What It Means
The Hurricanes sit at 9-2-2 and remain atop the Metropolitan Division with 20 points, ahead of the New York Rangers’ 15. St. Louis fell to 5-5-1 and dropped to sixth in the Central Division with 11 points, one point behind the Winnipeg Jets. Carolina also leads the season series between the two clubs 1-0.
The shutout marked a complete defensive effort for Carolina, which out-hit St. Louis 21-17 and out-blocked the Blues 13-9. The Hurricanes went 1-for-1 on the power play while holding St. Louis scoreless on one advantage.
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