Snuggerud scores twice for Blues in win against Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jimmy Snuggerud scored two goals for the St. Louis Blues, who extended their point streak to six games with a 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Snuggerud gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 15:12 of the third period. Dylan Holloway lost control of the puck while curling out from behind the net, but Snuggerud was at the bottom of the right circle and quickly scored short side on Brandon Bussi.

Pavel Buchnevich added an empty-net goal with 51 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.

“We’ve definitely kind of dug in for each other,” Holloway said. “It seems like right now we’re really pulling through together as a team. We’re playing smart hockey. We’re playing kind of the way our team is built and playing to our identity. Once you get a couple games like that, everybody feels it. You know what it takes to win and you kind of try and keep that momentum going."

Holloway had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 31 saves for the Blues (26-29-10), who are 5-0-1 on their point streak and 6-1-1 since the Olympic break.

“They overwhelmed us a bit for the first nine minutes, and then we started to play our game,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “We started to get to positions, get to spots where we knew we had to get to ... and having two to their one so we could extend some O-zone time. Once we started doing that we started to get more chances.”

Mark Jankowski scored for the Hurricanes (41-18-6), who had their home point streak end at 12 games (11-0-1). Bussi made 14 saves.

“It was probably our best period of the year in the first period, and you’re up by one,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You’re just letting a team hang around, and you know they’re going to come back a little bit. There wasn’t much after that. We didn’t generate a ton.”

Jankowski put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 8:38 of the first period. He intercepted a pass by Nathan Walker in the neutral zone, made a move around Tyler Tucker in the right circle, and lifted a shot over Binnington's blocker while cutting to the crease.

Carolina outshot St. Louis 13-2 in the first.

“One good period is not going to cut it,” Jankowski said. “We just let our foot off the gas, which we can’t do. We just kind of let them back into it a little bit.”

Snuggerud tied it 1-1 at 3:53 of the second period. He took a pass in the defensive zone, skated all the way into the high slot between three Carolina defenders, including backing off Jaccob Slavin, and beat Bussi glove side with a snap shot.

“I was honestly just trying to get a shot off in that situation," Snuggerud said. “He’s a smart, skilled defenseman. I’m just trying to shoot through a screen there. The majority of the time he gets a stick on that, and luckily I got it through."

Binnington was sharp throughout against the Hurricanes, and he kept the game tied early in the third period by making a key save on Sebastian Aho, who was trying to convert a pass from Seth Jarvis on a 2-on-1 while short-handed.

“When you play together you can beat any team in this League,” Binnington said. “We’re all buying in. We’re blocking shots, we’re playing free. I think sometimes around (NHL Trade Deadline) time it gets a little tense. After that, you’re allowed to not think and just play. I think that’s what we’re doing. It’s good to see us just focusing on getting better and better every day.”

NOTES: Snuggerud has nine points (five goals, four assists) during a four-game multipoint streak. ... Holloway has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Bussi, who is 25-5-1, has lost consecutive starts for the first time this season.