Hurricanes score three in row to defeat Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Skinner scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 6:08 remaining in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at Scottrade Center on Thursday.
Skinner's 14th goal came on a slap shot from the right circle that grazed off Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and went into the top left corner.

WATCH: All Hurricanes vs. Blues highlights
"It took a good bounce and fortunately it went in," Skinner said.
Derek Ryan scored twice, Jay McClement scored, and Jordan Staal and Brock McGinn each had two assists for the Hurricanes (17-14-7). Cam Ward made 21 saves.
"It was really big," Ryan said. "It's that part of the year were points are huge. This team is really good, so obviously we wanted to have a strong game tonight and we wanted to start this two-game road trip on the right foot, and that's what we did."
Joel Edmundson and Vladimir Tarasenko scored, and Jake Allen made 25 saves for the Blues (20-14-5), who were playing for the first time since defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in the 2017 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Monday.
The Blues have gone 17 games since winning consecutive games and 21 since winning consecutively in regulation.
"I thought that was our worst game of the year," Allen said. "I don't know what you guys saw, but from everyone, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror after that game. Unfocused, [didn't execute], and just didn't play our game at all."
The Blues again allowed an early goal when Ryan scored on a 2-on-1, beating Allen from inside the left dot 1:09 into the first period for a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis allowed the first goal by Chicago 1:03 into that game.
On Thursday, the Blues tied it 1-1 on Edmundson's second NHL goal, a shot from the left point short-side at 3:04 of the second period.
Tarasenko scored a power-play goal at 7:27 to give the Blues a 2-1 lead, but McClement tied it 2-2 on a slap shot from the top of the right circle at 11:02.
Ryan scored into an empty net with 1:19 remaining.
"I liked us in a lot of areas," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "A good effort throughout. I thought everyone found a way to contribute."

Goal of the game

Tarasenko's goal was good execution between he and Robby Fabbri, who took a long pass from Tarasenko, waited patiently in the offensive zone before feeding Tarasenko in stride, and he beat Ward with a wrist shot.

Save of the game

Allen made back-to-back stops on shorthanded attempts by Staal and Joakim Nordstrom with 8:16 and 8:14 remaining, respectively, in the third period of a 2-2 game.

Highlight of the game

Skinner's goal was the result of pressure by the Hurricanes in the neutral zone before gaining the zone, and Skinner stepping into a slap shot just inside the right circle.

Unsung performance of the game

Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin played a game-high 25:55, including 6:09 on the penalty kill. Slavin had an assist, was a plus-3 and blocked two shots.

They said it

"Coming out of the [Christmas] break [and losing three of four], we really hadn't gotten to the level that we were before. Now we're back on the right track. Maybe this will kick-start something." -- Hurricanes left wing Jeff Skinner
"It was fun. Scratched for 15 straight games and then getting thrown out there the first period, it was a little sluggish. But after the first I settled down, I thought I made some plays. To beat the Blues on home ice is not an easy feat, a good win for the boys." -- Hurricanes right wing Ty Rattie on facing his former team after being claimed on waivers Wednesday
"This is attitude consistency. We needed to really dig in and regroup with each other and we didn't have enough people doing it today. You can't play the game when you're losing as many races to pucks and battles. That's the game." -- Blues coach Ken Hitchcock

Need to know

Rattie played a season-high 12:59 in his fifth game. … Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk was activated off injured-reserve after missing four games with a lower-body injury and played 21:46. ... Hitchcock remains five wins behind Al Arbour (782) for third all-time in NHL coaching victories. … Tarasenko's 19th goal was his third in two games.

What's next

Hurricanes: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, CSN-CH, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Blues: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)