The Carolina Hurricanes may very well have played their best, most complete game of the year in a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues Friday night in a game with a playoff atmosphere.
The Blues, which has the best record of a western conference team against the east teams, fell behind early as the Canes’ Nathan Gerbe scored four minutes in but managed to tie it on a power play goal.
In the second period, the Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner scored after a face off in front of the Blues net to put the home team up 2-1.
Late in the third period, the Canes’ Alexander Semin wrapped it up with a contested empty net goal.
“We knew we had to come out strong against them but we carried it all the way through 60 minutes,” Skinner said. “It’s a big win but we want to focus on the next game, keep picking up points.”
The win, which kicks off a four-game home stand, puts the Hurricanes at 59 points, four behind the second-place New York Rangers. The Hurricanes are now 11-4 since Dec. 31.
Goalie Anton Khudobin, subbing for injured Cam Ward, improved to 12-4 with 26 saves against the second-highest scoring team in the NHL.